


Isis, This Isn’t Egypt

by Omicron_The_IceQueen



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Caster-Monster relationship, Magic, Paper Witch, Shadow magic, White Magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-14
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-11 21:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 72,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/803612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omicron_The_IceQueen/pseuds/Omicron_The_IceQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes you need to push past the world you know to find yourself, and to find those worth knowing. This applies not just humans, but to mortal and immortal casters and Monsters all alike. Oh, and don’t step on the temple cat’s tail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Queen's notes: Okay, quick note, Cassidy is something I made up, a Paper-Witch, a modern caster that evolved within the last 200 years from wood\frost type casters, so 'new' but in their field strong. Though all things considering even being a white-witch ['good'] their not all that strong in comparison to other casters and mages.
> 
> This has an AU story based on it, that DC and I did called, 'Phontom gets a Cupcake' that's out. Please enjoy the read. the first few chapters are very long
> 
> Cassidy, Claws, Isis and The Kar are my characters. And I think it's pretty clear we don't own the franchise this is based on XD I'd be in a house if I even had a share.
> 
> DC's notes: First off, Jafar and Simon are my creations, though the Dark Magician is -obviously- a Yu-Gi-Oh! creature.
> 
> As for other notes, there's not a lot to say, other than enjoy the read, and I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did working on it with Omicron.

"Ack!"

Oh yes, glorious first words back home... He shook his head as he pushed himself up off his face, spitting out some dirt as he stood and brushed himself off before looking around, his cheeks flushed slightly red as he checked to see if anyone had seen his spectacular re-entry to Earth. Wait... was this Earth? It certainly didn't look like any Earth he'd seen before.

His hawk yellow eyes held utter confusion as he picked his dusty red and gold hat up off the ground, brushing it off before putting it back on as he stared around himself with alarm. Where was all the sand? What were all these funny structures he could see? He sighed quietly as he shook his head, trying to figure out just where he'd ended up, deep down thankful that one of his associates from the Shadow Realm hadn't seen his spectacular re-entry to what he had expected to be Earth. He'd have never heard the end of it...

A hiss came from the right, low and threatening, but strangely light. The reason being it was no Monster, but a normal feline that arched its back at the sudden new comer after shaking off shock. The pale feline was both strange and akin to something he'd know, looking like a cross of an Egyptian Mau in body, yet the pale coloration of the exotic Siamese and the size of something else.

The old feline queen arched her back, fur standing on end and her tail lashed as the feline glowered at the... non-man with all the authority of her Mau blood, those tomb and temple guardians. She wasn't about to leave though, not with small squeaking, blind kittens behind her.

The man jumped slightly, turning quickly as he drew his staff, but he relaxed himself as he looked at the cat with confused interest. He'd never seen a cat quite like this one before. Putting his staff away, he took a step back away from the cat, taking his hat off again and fumbling absently with it as he eyed the feline with curiosity and traces of respect. Yes, he definitely wasn't going to mess with this cat. He knew all too well that messing with cats rarely ended well.

He had one of his associates to blame for that little encounter... damn sphinx...

"NeeeOOOW!" The feline queen shrieked, using her Siamese voice. Loud was an understatement, this was a true queen that had been forgotten and insulted by being left out side. Pregnant no less!

Yet her Mau blood held the possibility of communication, of a sorts, and information of where this stranger was.

The being flinched slightly as he took a few more steps back, muttering an apology in what he thought was the normal language to speak. After all, he'd spoken ancient Egyptian all his life; he had no idea just how much the world had changed.

It was odd, really, apologizing to a cat, and anyone who could see and understand him would probably think he was crazy, but at the moment he was more worried about the cat attacking him than he was what people would think. After all, he'd made a fool of himself already, who really gave a rip if he made himself look even more strange?

The feline queen flicked her ears, her back starting to lower and bright pale eyes stared intently at this odd person that fell out of space and darkness. Her fur didn't smooth but she backed up and sat; sitting as if she were on the arm of a throne of a Pharaoh, or Emperor, instead of a bunch of stacked cardboard boxes. She had however responded, somewhat, to his words and showed a little more interest in him, though still leery as any mother would be.

The being seemed to relax a little when the cat stopped hissing at him, and he looked her over with confusion before glancing around, clearly trying to figure out why such a beautiful creature was out here instead of somewhere cleaner and more suiting her status, and needs. Frowning a little, he looked around for any sign of someone who could explain to him just what was going on. None of what he was seeing was making any sense to him in the slightest.

"Meerrow?" The feline asked, waiting. She could feel his magic, and it was strong enough that he should be able to cast a simple translation spell. The queen could do so herself, but honestly that was below her dignity. She had kittens to dedicate her energies to after all, as a mother the feline queen had to give her priority to her kittens.

It took a few moments for the being to figure this out, with a cat glaring at him the whole time, though it soon came to him and muttering something else in untranslatable words, the spell was cast. The first words out of his mouth were rather undignified. "What in the name of Ra is going on here?" He didn't sound cranky, which was probably a good thing, but his confusion was definitely obvious.

"Raaaa?" A heavily feline accented voice asked, the pale queen's inner voice sounding strong and also with a strong dose of feline assuredness. Yet there was a purring undertone of a mother, "Who is Raaa? You are not one of my mistress' grown kittens."

The being blinked slowly at her response, "...Are you jesting?" He asked, seeming rather confused. "...your mistress? I do not really understand what you are talking about." That was an understatement. How could she not know who Ra was? Everyone knew who Ra was! At least as far as he had been aware.

"My mistress was the shaman, the witch of witches," The feline queen complained, her tone taking an insulted edge as she showed her delicate fangs to the ally in general as well as her current predicament, "The elder caster of this region! I sat on her high chair, I watched over her coooovvven...! I sat at her side in the end," her tone changed again this time to morning, "I protected her spirit from the bad things, until she crossed over like I'm supposed to."

This was the thing about cats, you had to wait and listen with patience to get the answers to your asked questions. At the same time this was some interesting information, as this was a holy cat.

Her tail flicked and she mewed in a softer, plaintive voice, "I found a suitable king to father my young- to give them to the grieving two-legs in my mistress' passing... and those evil men kicked me out of the shriiiiine I was guarding!" She gave another protesting scream at that.

The being listened to this all with renewed intrigue. Sure, this wasn't really an answer to his question, but it was at least somewhat informative. His confusion really hit though when he heard that the cat was thrown out of the shrine. Things were never like that before, from what he could recall. Anyone who abused a cat was likely to get thrashed, holy cat or not.

The pale eyes, like moon disks regarded the tall being for a long moment before, "I do not jest about spirits odd, dark one," Her ears were slowly starting to fold back again as she curled her lips at his shadows, "It's my duty to know them in this region, and I know of no Raaa... Who is he? I may not have my shrine, and kittens but I will claw anyone that wants to hurt my people- two legged and four."

The being hesitated, grimacing as he thought over what the cat told him, "I am surprised you have not heard of him. He is the sun god, after all... unless..." He frowned a little as he considered the situation. "...where is this? Is this... is this not Egypt?"

One ear tipped up and then other flattened to the side, "What? The sun was a gift from Raven, and Egypt's sands run only in the blood of my veins and those of my kits." She gave the spell caster a level look. "You are a caster, but you stink of darkness- but you're not like those demons... or like the wild ones..." She flicked her tail again thoughtfully, trying to figure out what this odd person was.

The being seemed highly confused about that, "...who is 'Raven'? And what are you talking about? I am from Egypt, and I know my parents are not of your kind." He hesitated to consider the rest of what the cat said. "Wild ones? Demons? You are confusing me even further than I was previously."

The queen gave him a flat look, and sighed with a sympathetic purr, before saying bluntly, like a fast swipe of a paw, "Egypt is on the other side of the world lost, Dark One. We are beyond the great seas." She licked her left paw and glanced up to see the next reaction.

The being looked incredibly alarmed to hear this. For a while he didn't even manage to find any words that could string together a sentence. Eventually he just shook his head, seeming highly uneasy. "This... does not make any sense at all." He finally said, sounding utterly lost, "I suppose I will have to find a way back." He concluded. "Though that may prove difficult... That or I will have to find a way back to the Shadow Realm, and I would rather not go back to just be scoffed at for returning so quickly... no, that would never do."

This was turning into some entertainment for her, but cats were like that- even to Pharaohs, but her soft heart was bending sympathy to him. "You're a server spirit, Dark One." She noted aloud, head tilting and tail tip twitching. "You're not a wild one, you need a person like I do."

He thought that over a bit. Now that she mentioned it, it did sound like a good plan to at least find someone he could help, or keep an eye on, for the time being. "I see." He replied. "And a wild one, I assume, is one that's just out for personal gain?"

"They are wild," She looked to the side, not seeing the wall but beyond to a forest, "Wolves and coyotes, big cats and Raven's brothers." the feline queen hunkered low and looked back alarmed to make sure each of her kittens were still there. "You should find a clean witch, Dark One."

"A... Clean witch?" He inquired, "What exactly is a 'clean witch'?"

"A good one," The feline tried again, "Clean, no bad smell, a white witch. The daughters and mothers that help others... a shaman may try to banish you Dark One- _I_ can smell no evil on you, but humans can't smell that good." she added in warning, tail flicking.

"I think we both knew that part..." He muttered under his breath as he followed after her, glancing around a bit as he did. After all, the surroundings were far from understandable to him at the present; there was no knowing when danger could jump out at them.

With the grace of her Siamese blood, and also of the Mau who used to bound between shrines and priests with the glee of blessed beings that knew they were. The feline queen dropped down off her boxes then up and to the top of a six foot fence with no trouble. Down again the feline ran down the rest of the ally before stopping as if seeing a hidden mirror wall, and looked back again. The dark being kept up quite easily, his gaze mostly focused on his guide, though he still glanced around a bit with uncertainty. None of this looked like anything he had seen before, after all. By now he had put his hat back on, holding his staff in one of his hands and seeming ready to blast any hostile being that tried to cause trouble. He wasn't about to let anyone or anything get the jump on him; that had happened far too many times for him to want to risk it happening here.

The feline rubbed against the caster's closer ankle, rewarding him in the feline way for doing as he was told before she paced to the edge of a pool of light. She glanced at the street light before looking to the right down the street, "That way... there's trouble... and I smell a paper witch. I would help but I have kittens, so you go. Paper witches are nice." She gave her last advice.

The caster smiled faintly at the cat's affection, though his attention was quickly averted to what the cat told him. He wasn't really sure what a paper witch was, but given the fact that his feline companion had helped him out this much at least, he saw no reason to consider this to be a trap. Giving a faint nod, he murmured a quiet thank you before he set off to find out what the trouble was. If someone was getting beat up who shouldn't be, he wouldn't hesitate to stop whoever was doing the beating.

"Don't let the normal two legs see you!" The feline queen's voice drifted to him as she turned to return to her helpless offspring. It might have been good to have a holy cat around, but in this case it meant having to juggle a mother and kits. Not such a good thing to do with a passable battle on hand.

The being gave a quick nod as he slipped into the shadows, muttering a quick spell to conceal himself as he proceeded towards the source of disturbance. He would have preferred to have the cat stay, but he knew trying to watch over a family of cats while potentially fighting was a bad situation. It meant his attention would be divided, and that wasn't something he was going to risk.

The queen may not approve anyways.

The buildings were so different, carved not from stone or Nile made bricks, but something else. It wasn't the smooth flowing lines the nobles and Pharaohs favored, but a bit harsher with straight lines, and yet had a strange mix of noble quality and yet the warmth that the lower classes had (as sometimes that's all they had). Indeed, the odd pattern of the buildings around him made the dark one quite confused, if not slightly dizzy. The colors were all wrong, the patterns quite a bewilderment, and the general appearance rather unfamiliar. Shaking his head a little at this, he sped up and continued onward, his eyes searching for any signs of danger, though briefly straying to marvel in wonderment at a street light as he passed by.

Then he hit it.

A barrier, not a shield exactly to deflect attacks or magic; it was a buzzing, twitching feeling of alien, foreign magic. It was a buffer to keep out 'normal,' or rather non-magical citizens away from a hazardous zone where spells could be flung. Though different, the barrier was still hastily made.

He blinked at this, expression one of mild surprise. He hadn't expected to hit something like that. Hesitating a moment, he moved to proceed past the barrier, his expression showing that his interest was growing stronger.

" _Shield!_ " The word that was said, shouted, was in the universal Old Words of magic as the girl spun around pulling out a handful of white sheets from the bag on her hip, they almost leapt out of her hands to form a shield between her and the nearest creatures. The first impacted the sheets as if a wall, and was torn up by the claws and fangs of the fellows. She said something else with a questioning edge, speaking in modern English, peeking around the corner of the white shield, and yelped seeing the surviving creatures.

The dark one hurled another magic attack at the creatures that were attacking the girl. He recognized the Old Words that the girl said, though his confusion was rekindled at the modern English. He'd never heard anything quite like that before. Shaking it from his mind for the moment, however, he returned his focus to the creatures attacking the odd-speaking girl.

She had formed a shield around her, big enough to keep the monsters out of her little pocket. She would collapse a window in the white wall to be able to fling out sharp edged... arrow?

The thing was, this local caster clearly was far better at defense then attacking, or offence at anything really. She wasn't a warrior by any means as each time a monster noticed a window and lunged, she squeaked before hurriedly closing it.

The dark one kept up his attack, each blast stronger whenever he heard the girl squeak and shut her window. He wasn't about to let these creatures tear apart a girl who - as far as he could see - wasn't really good at fighting back.

All things considering, it wasn't really a long battle, if it could be called a battle at all. The dog creatures had been focused only on the shield wall and the one inside, and hadn't even bothered to turn against the dark one. It was prime target practice for him basically, so it wasn't long before the last one dissolved into a soupy and tar like sludge before evaporated.

After a moment, in the space of a gap of the shield, wide brown eyes peeked out, trying to see if it was clear.

The dark one took a quick look around for more attackers before he put his staff away and looked back at the barrier of paper, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the girl, expression showing curiosity and confusion. He didn't say anything at first, not even sure if she could presently see him or not. Sure he'd cast a concealment spell, but who knew if she could see through it or not.

Although, it may also help to test if she could see him by being in the line of sight. The girl was moving from one side to the other, only able to peek out of ripped little edges. The wall was a good seven feet tall, to keep the beats out, but it wasn't so big that the dark one couldn't look over the top. And thus, with no other grand ideas, he moved closer and looked down over the top, seeming incredibly curious as he peered down at the girl with interest and, as he seemed to have for the past however long he'd been in this world, confusion.

What he saw looked like a true girl, but really a petite young woman not taller than five feet. Her skin though a copper-tan wasn't the same as Egyptian, or the features, her hair was quiet long, hanging down on a braid down her back with feathers attached. Dressed in what was for her time, normal blue jeans and a black sweater.

It took a moment before she realized something was amiss, and she looked up. Her eyes widen as she started at the very tall, very big, very scary looking (and was big mentioned?) person there... looking down at her.

The young magic user squeaked, her control over the shield wall failing in shock, the paper shredding and flittering down to the street as so much confetti.

Well, that certainly explained his situation. The being raised an eyebrow as he looked her over as he took a step back, just observing her with curiosity and wonderment. After a little while, he spoke, though there was no way on Earth she'd know what he was saying. After all, he was still speaking ancient Egyptian.

"Umm, umm... _shield!_ " The girl stumbled and then said again, using the Old Word to trigger the same defensive spell. After a moment she realized nothing happened and looked down, where only a single paper floated, crinkling a little but was... only one. In a hurry she looked into her bag, coming up with only a twittering paper crane made from a post-it note.

The bright pink paper crane took one look and the dark one, and fluttered off to hide behind its mistress, and in her braid. The girl's shoulders slumped a little after an awkward moment.

The dark being raised an eyebrow before moving back a little before speaking again. "I... take it you do not understand me?" He asked, not really figuring out that she didn't understand him.

He got another squeak, the girl trying her very best to hide behind the second and failed paper shield. By her wide eyes and general expression she was rather confused, and frightened, herself.

The dark one just looked incredibly bewildered by now, and as such he moved back a bit and, after checking for danger, sat down, taking his hat off and just watching the girl with confusion and curiosity. "...you haven't a clue what I'm saying at all."

It was a few moments before the girl shook her head, only guessing what he was saying. After a moment she peered a bit closer at him, with the dark one sitting and his size less intimidating she was more incline to at least see who and what he was before running away.

The being just watched her with curiosity before fully realizing that she was a great deal smaller than him, and as such used a bit of magic to make him a little shorter, around eight feet, he figured. That should be reasonable... well, so he thought anyway. "...Name?" He asked, hoping she'd at least understand he wanted to know what he could call her.

Her eyes had unfocused a little, feeling the magic before seeing the difference. The girl still kept her paper between them as a flimsy form of security. The dark one wasn't as imposing, but still being so much shorter than him (and everyone), she was hesitant to come closer. Tilting her head she considered the just as strange word he used, and asked something in return, looking over his frame again while the little post-it crane peeked out from under a feather.

He raised an eyebrow. "It seems we are at a verbal stalemate." He concluded, though he blinked and facepalmed. "Stupid..." He cast a translation spell and tried again. "Can you understand me now?"

"Sooou...?" the half word was asked, and the girl gave him a baffled look. Her eyes ticked to just the side of him and her expression became relieved as she spotted something. That something hopped up onto the dark one's shoulder guard and bright vivid green cat eyes stared at the male caster.

The dark being just about had heart failure. Jumping and turning to look at the cat with alarm, he just blinked several times. "..." He then looked back at the girl, though he eventually looked at the cat again. "... hi?" Oh yes, definitely the champion of social interactions...

The big cat- a tom much bigger than the queen from before, invited his personal space, having no trouble hanging onto the moving armor with his rather large claws. He was, in local terms an over sided cross of an orange tabby and mane coon, but could easily be called a mini lion. After so completely scaring the scrap out of the dark one and getting a good sniff, he hopped down to his lap then paced to the young witch, tail waving like a flag.

"You're speaking cat monster, not two-legged," the feline informed the dark one as he jumped up to the girl's shoulders and sprawled over them possessively, but purring deeply in reassurance.

The dark being blinked at this news before groaning and mumbling something under his breath about being a nincompoop. Just shaking his head, he tried to figure out just what part of his spell went wrong, though he wasn't fully sure how it'd happened. Frustrated, he ended up just looking at the girl and the cat with an expression of lost and tired seeming confusion. If expressions could speak words, it'd be easy to say that this expression was saying he was very much new to everything around him.

"...klaow?" the soft voice asked, but it was a mew that came from the human, it would translate into a hesitant half greeting, half question of intent.

The being seemed confused a bit, "...pardon?"

"Neow...ow..." the paper witch tried again, and looked at the big cat she was supporting.

The green eyed feline gave her a sympatric lick and rolled his eyes at the dark one, "She said hello," his long tail flicked from his person's middle to neck and back down, "It's the accent... she's from a wolf clan, not a feline one, so I forgive my charge."

The dark one gave a small nod. "Ah... well at least there is a way to converse now... hello back."

"What do you waaant," the guardian cat demand, his claws pricking out to keep the witch back, "You smell like darkness..."

The dark one sighed. "I want to find my way back home, to Egypt. It's... a very long story. I'm not here to cause trouble though, of that you can be certain."

"The place of sand... not a good place to be," the tom said, a bit more aware of the world of humans in the greater world then the queen had been. He considered and purred, retracting his claws as his human slowly moved forward.

For all the strangeness, at least the cats seemed to still know their duties in this odd land.

"Have things grown worse?" He asked with concern. "Because they were bad when I left to become what I am now." He thought a while on the situation. "... what year is it?"

The cat blinked, staring until the dark one would ether realize or remember that cats didn't keep track of years like humans, having three to four years of their own within a single one of the human's.

The girl reached up with one hand to rub her guardian's ears before taking a deep breath at stepping closer to the shadow realm denizen. she extending a open hand, the other hanging onto her last paper, and murmuring a 'soft' spell under her breath.

The being raised an eyebrow, watching with curiosity. He wasn't fully sure what the girl was doing, but he'd figured out that talking to the cat about years wasn't really going to work that well. He wasn't really sure what she was trying to do at the present.

She held out her hand, keeping it up before twitching her fingers and looking at his own closer hand.

He followed her gaze, lifting his own hand in curiosity before glancing at the girl and, not fully seeming sure of what he was doing, reached out and gently took hold of her hand. "... like this?" He asked, really not sure if he did it right.

She stared for a moment, as even in his slightly smaller form the dark one's hand completely covered hers. Blinking, the young witch carefully put her other hand on top of the bigger one, focusing her energies as much as getting a feeling for his. She whispered softly, and then a carefully spoken, "Hello?" was said and understood as the girl struggled with holding a connection to his translation spell.

The being blinked a few times before seeming to smile a little, "Hello. Nice to actually understand you."

"You're speaking...very old." she said looking up at his eyes, still with a nervous air to her, but more shy than scared

The dark one seemed a little confused. "... I don't follow what you mean... what do you mean 'I'm speaking very old'?" He didn't sound bothered, merely confused.

She considered, "Dead. Dead tongue... dead language, that's no more?" the paper witch tried again in a few different ways to see if that helped..

That seemed to help a little bit. "... what year is this anyway?" He couldn't really remember how long he'd been in the Shadow Realm, other than a lot longer than he felt his sanity could have probably handled without being a little damaged.

"2012," was the answer, "But that's that newest age... it feels like you're from a much older one."

The dark one just about had heart failure at that. "2012?" He repeated with alarm. "But, that's... that's at least three thousand years in the future, isn't it?" Well, that certainly explained why he was speaking a dead language.

It seemed the translation spell helped with numbers and dates as much as words, or maybe that was from her side?

Mentioning that, the witch gasped and had to break contact, rubbing her hands as the two alien magics finally rubbed against each other a little too much for her already lowered stamina.

The dark one just stared at the ground in front of him in horror for a few moments as he let his hand just drop limply to his lap. He then quickly looked around a bit, his eyes showing confusion and what almost looked to be fear. "No wonder everything is so odd... but... if it's been that long..." A new horror dawned on him. Everyone he had ever cared about before was now gone, most likely forgotten in the ages that had gone past.

Shy fingers touched his closer knee, just using the tips but still trying to offer some comfort. The younger caster was tired, exhausted and may pass out in the next little bit from her adventures with those dog creatures and by still holding up the attention barrier... but she was also still willing to offer kindness to the dark one.

The dark one blinked when she touched him, looking at her almost nervously as he took in her expression. A great sadness had settled on his well tanned face, his eyes holding heavy sorrow. "... what do I do now?" He asked weakly.

"Find a warm place to nap, then ask that question," The tom cat offered his advice, watching the dark one with interest.

The dark one glanced at the cat now, sighing faintly as he responded. "Any recommendations? I haven't been in this... this new world, for very long."

His answer came as the dark one's hand was taken again, and the girl pulled physically this time. Of course she would never be able to move him without a hefty dose of magic- that wasn't there, but it was an order none the less to get up.

The dark one blinked as she did this, but gave a faint nod as he stood up, though he remained quiet. He didn't really know what else to say, though that was understandable. Finding out he was at least 3,000 years away from everyone he used to love and know was a rather big blow.

Taking a deep breath, the girl spoke and the Old Words were perfectly understandable, " _Barrier to hold back the tide of curiosity, you are dismissed until the next time the land and people need you. I, a Wolfpaw child command you._ " She opened one eye as the feeling of the attention barrier flickered before dissolving and sliding away.

The dark one remained quiet, just thinking over everything he had learned in the short time he'd been here so far. Was there a point in being here? As he thought about it, he decided rather quickly that, even if this new world was far more strange than anything he'd seen before, it was probably safer than the Shadow Realm had ever been, and that was reason enough to stay, at least for a little bit

"Oy!" a female voice drew his attention back down where the witch was looking over her shoulder at him. Somewhat miffed, but for good reason as she had both hands wrapped around his fingers and was leaning her whole body weight against his hand that was partly braced on his shoulder. The young human caster was miffed as even using all her physical strength [i.e. not a not] the dark one had failed to notice her effort at all.

The dark one blinked several times as he shook himself from his thoughts and looked at the girl, his face going very faintly red as he started walking. "...my apologies." He commented quietly, "Lost in thought."

She seemed to understand the gist of his words, and tugged again to get him to move. The girl stumbled when he did as she had her balance braced against his unmovable weight and strength, but she regained her footing and led the eventual monster. The paper witch struggled against her low, faded reserves in attempt to make a smaller attention barrier so the oddly dressed 'man' wasn't noticed, but after gasping and nearly face-planting... it proved to be a bad idea.

The dark one blinked at the girl's falling over, his expression turning to one of faint concern. One eyebrow raised, he reached down and carefully steadied her and looking her over as though checking to see if she was hurt. He then withdrew and, after glancing around a bit, shrunk his height by two more feet, leaving him at six feet, give or take a few inches. At least he was a more normal height now...

"Stop thaaaaat!" the cat complained from the ground, "It itches in the furrrr!" he mewled as his charge failed to comfort him after the protest, as she was rubbing her arms in her own reaction.

The paper witch shook her head at her cat before taking the dark one's hand, "Cassidy." she said.

The dark one glanced at the cat with faint confusion before looking back at the girl. At first, he wasn't sure what 'Cassidy' meant, though after giving it some thought he clued in. "Jafar." Was what he said in response. Well, at least he had a name to call her now other than 'small one'. The last person he'd called that had promptly tried beating him up with a stick. Sure it didn't work very well, but still, he wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

"Jafar..." Cassidy sounded out the name as she led the way, almost the same way Jafar had come. The big tom slinked ahead of them as if scouting, getting over his pout for now in favor of doing his duty of stirring up trouble before it got to his mistress.

He nodded as she repeated his name. "Jafar." He said again, as though confirming it solidly. He paused before pointing at her with his hat-holding hand. "Cassidy?" He wanted to make sure he'd got it right, after all. Names were important, and making more of an idiot of himself wasn't really high on his to-do list.

She grinned and nodded, winced and finished the nod at a slower pace. "Ya, Casidy."

"NeeeEEAAOOW!"

The unexpected Siamese feline voice screaming as they passed an ally had the girl reflexively clutching at Jafar's middle, eyes wide and magics flickering but unable to form any defense as she had no paper and nor spare energy left. Her guardian had leaped a good four feet and was staring just as wide eyed down the alley were all three were being glowered at by the queen on the other side of the chain link fence. Even from that distance her demand for help and attention clear.

Jafar smiled a little as Cassidy confirmed her name, though he blinked and turned his head quickly, gaze staring at the female cat. Hesitating a moment, he let go of Cassidy's hand, quietly proceeding toward the queen, though he was going to keep his distance at first, just in case something really bad was going to happen.

"I want a hoooome!" The feline was calling when he got closer, "Serrrverrr! Take me and my kits to the little witch's coven!" The queen bounded back and forth along the fence before leaping up to where her five little sightless kittens were stashed.

Jafar blinked at what she said before thinking it over and moving closer. After all, she had helped him out at first, it was only fair if he returned the gesture. "Alright. I just hope she'll be understanding of the situation..."

"Hooome!" the pale cat demanded from within her box inside a box. her accent slipping to deeper feline but her demands were clear. Then the queen yelled and bounded out of her hiding place to challenge the tom, as they were hissing and cursing in cat to each other, it would give the spell caster a chance to just neatly lift the smaller box that had the kittens in it.

And this was a chance that Jafar took, sighing quietly as he carefully and gently lifted the kitten box. "Must you two curse that way? Is it really something children this young should hear?" He was clearly referring to the kittens.

Two pairs of cat eyes, one pale the other green regarded the dark one. They looked at each other as if asking in the unspoken feline way of, "did he just ask that?" and just like that they were calmed down, the queen poking her nose into the bigger male's ear to clean it. They knew each other after all.

The dark one raised an eyebrow at this, though he decided not to comment on it. Instead, his gaze turned to the box in his hands, a faint smile crossing his face before he glanced at the two cats again. He then, without a word, returned to Cassidy, deciding the two adult cats would follow when they were done, though he had no intentions of going any further than Cassidy. He didn't want to make the queen angry at him.

She was waiting, leaning against the wall of the building watching everything- too tired to climb fences let alone hop over one as gracefully as Jafar just did- twice. But watching him, she seem to suddenly trust the caster more... after all, someone that just saved kittens and their mother couldn't be all bad right?

Jafar smiled faintly at Cassidy, holding the kitten box with just as much care as he had when he first picked it up. He seemed to be a little pleased with himself, though he didn't really voice it as he glanced back towards where the two cats were.

The queen had followed at Jafar's heals, hovering as the tom sat at his charge's feet. The tired girl said something in her own language, the last word slipping into Old Words, so the phrase was somewhat understandable as, "Time to go home...more family."

Jafar glanced at the girl with faint curiosity, clearly still trying to figure out what her own language was, though he nodded a bit. "...which way?"

It was the tom that translated, making a demanding mew for food. That was more than enough to get and eye roll and the paper witch pushed herself up as she pointed. She really hoped that her [hopefully] new friend didn't have anything against cars.

Jafar turned his gaze towards where she was pointing, his expression turning to a highly confused one as he eyed the vehicle. "...what is that?"

The black TransAM sat, looking oddly...dark. It had its own personality as only cars could, enhanced by constantly being close to a magic user. As Cassidy walked right up to it, the car's door clicked and opened into her hand before she could touch it, making the girl smile (and be thankful her car liked her). Holding the driver's side door open, Cassidy picked up the pale feline while the tom hopped right in and then into the back were the queen was put. After that she reached for the kittens to put in the back. At the same time watching Jafar to see if he would... well, spazz.

Jafar just watched this all happen with the look of someone who was slapped for no reason at all. "... what is this strange being?" He asked with utter bewilderment, turning his gaze to Cassidy.

"It's a caaar," came a feline voice, unclear who said it, "He's okay, as long as the witch is driving."

Jafar seemed highly uncertain. "A... car." He repeated. "...what does that mean?" He seemed to be having an issue with figuring out what one did with a car. By now he had let Cassidy take the box of kittens from him, his focus so much on the vehicle that he might not have even noticed the box wasn't in his hands any more.

The girl was half inside, arranging the box to be safe, and getting an ear full by the mother, she popped out, adjusted the seat and looked up. Eyeing the dank one, and his staff before deciding to start the car first. Before trying to convince him to get it.

The dark one just watched with curiosity and uncertainty, jumping rather violently and staring at the vehicle with an almost 'deer in the headlights' sort of look as he blinked. "...monster?" He questioned, seeming highly leery of this new development. "... but..." He shook his head a little, every bit of his being trying - and failing - to figure out what this new beast in front of him was doing

Cassidy, despite herself was giggling to herself, even the wolf spirits in the forests knew perfectly well what cars were. Raven's clever children even used cars to crack nuts and clams. It explained in her tired mind how...old? New? He was, and with a sigh she pulled herself out of the driver's seat. Cassidy reached out to take one of Jafar's hands and pressed it against the reassuring hard, metal of the hood, it was cool to the touch yet starting to warm from mechanics, not flesh.

Jafar let her move his hand, his expression relaxing faintly when he realized what it was. "Oh." He said quietly, thinking it over a bit as his mind strayed back to the Shadow Realm. He remembered seeing a few mechanical sort of things there, not many but still some. Relaxing a little, he looked at Cassidy with an awkward expression. "So... it's safe?"

Cassidy tilted her head at his words, and gave a reassuring smile before pointing to were her cat guardian was sprawled his full impressive length on the dash, looking bored while the queen was curled up and nursing her kits. Both the holy cat and the guard were perfectly relaxed in this metal contraption.

Jafar's gaze followed Cassidy's fingers, and he relaxed a bit more as he nodded. "Okay." If the queen was okay with this bizarre contraption, he figured he may as well relax a little as well.

Wanting to reassure more but with the speaking barrier between them still there, the paper witch did the only thing she could think of.

The dark one would find himself receiving his first true hug in a long while, as Cassidy wrapped her arms around his middle.

Jafar blinked, gasping faintly as Cassidy hugged him. He didn't do much but stare ahead of himself with surprise for a little while, though he quirked a small smile and, seeming a bit unsure, hugged her back, careful that he didn't hurt her. He remembered how hard she'd tried to make him move before, only to get little more than frustration.

The girl looked up, partly hidden in his robes but also feeling the armor hidden under them. _This_ was not someone she wanted to be on the bad side of. She let go to curl her fingers around one of his hands, still trying to put an air of reassurance out.

Jafar gave the faintest smile as he relaxed a little more, his hawk yellow eyes looking Cassidy's features over as he did so. After a moment of silence, he gave a small nod, as though to say he was willing to give the mechanical 'monster' a try, though he probably wasn't sure quite what was going to happen once he was in. Someone would probably have to tell him that the car actually moved...

Although considering it did have wheels, and Cassidy toed one as she guided the dark one around to the passenger side.

Jafar blinked, looking down and seeing the wheel as he followed Cassidy to the passenger side. "...so it's like a chariot?" He asked before remembering she probably had no idea what he just asked. He came to another realization too, and took his hat off. After all, it probably wouldn't fit very well if he was wearing it in the car.

Cassidy glanced up at him and back to open the door. Only it didn't open, "Karr..." The girl said warningly, poking the lock until the door opened like on the other side. She wasn't even going to bother with the seatbelt, since she didn't trust her car wouldn't lock it up.

Jafar raised an eyebrow when the girl spoke, watching this with curiosity. "...so your car... creature... is living?"

"Not in the way we are," the tom cat said from where he was watching upside-down his human push and coax the monster into the passenger seat. "He's okay... runs good and is warm."

Jafar nodded to the cat with the sort of air that a person has when they only somewhat understand before glancing at Cassidy. "... you only have to ask me to, you know." He said quietly as he cautiously, tentatively, got in the car, sitting on the passenger seat and looking around the inside of the car with curiosity.

Used to blankets, Cassidy flipped Jafar's robes up into the car in replay before gently closing the door. Normally she'd slide over the hood but not right now, the paper witch was fairly sure if she did...she would use up what energy she had and fall asleep on the windshield.

Jafar blinked a bit before shifting his robes a little and glancing around a bit more. "... so many buttons." He finally observed, his gaze looking at the vehicle radio. Going by his tone, he'd had a few unpleasant run-ins with buttons in the past. A good thing though was that he was less likely to mess with them because of it.

Cassidy plopped in rather then sat, and the door closed behind her of its own accord. She didn't seem to notice that as she fumbled around to check on the mother cat and her kits in the back, glanced at the dark one and then rolled her eyes at the tom that was staying put. Something like, "Fluffybutt," made it thought the translation as she shifted into gear.

That strange word made Jafar give a faint snort, sounding almost like a faint laugh. He didn't comment on it though, merely resorting to trying to figure out what the tom cat had done to earn such a nickname. As far as he was aware, the cat hadn't done anything wrong.

The guardian was trying to take up as much space as he could on the front dash, unbothered by the movement of the car slowly pulling out, not from the name. In fact he started to purr deeply, taking it as a compliment as the paper witch tried to stay awake to make it home. The odd magic (to her) of the dark one so close was doing a pretty good job of that.

Jafar jumped slightly when the car started moving without anything pulling it, but he relaxed himself a little again when he reminded himself that machines didn't always need something to pull them in order to move. Turning his gaze to the window, he stared out of it in interest and curiosity, just watching the various things they passed by for the brief moments he could actually see them.

Cassidy looked over at him, pretty sure that going on the highway was a bad idea. But thankfully her home town wasn't really that big, and being on the right edge of it already it only took about ten minutes to reach her home. There was a large three story building that dominated the clearing, very large with more behind such as barns and pens. But rising up were carved poles, and Cassidy all but stopped, looking between the two poles framing the drive and the dark one beside her a few times. She was worried, so there must be another barrier in front of them, and she wasn't sure if Jafar could pass.

Jafar was eyeing the poles with curiosity now, his expression showing a lack of understanding for what they meant. He didn't speak, though his thoughts were focused on the poles designs, and the fact that he could feel the presence of another barrier. He decided this was why Cassidy had stopped the car, and he eventually looked at her. "Want me to get out?" He asked, once again forgetting that she probably couldn't understand what he said.

The pale form of the holy cat hopped up and paced onto Jafar's shoulders, before sprawling over them between his armor. She sniffed at his jaw line before extending her claws delicately to hook them on the red robes while her tail curled around his throat.

"Well... that's approval..." Cassidy muttered in English watching with wide eyes.

Jafar blinked as the queen did this, looking curiously at her before looking back at Cassidy. He seemed a bit awkward, having probably never had a cat do this to him before. He did nothing to try and move the holy cat though. After all, who was he to argue with a sacred creature when she chose where she wanted to put herself?

"She's approving of you server," the tom said from the dash, "The queen has sand blood in her like you, and she's repaying you for helping, and you saved my mistress." he gave another demand for food to get the car moving again, and Cassidy after a moment edged it forward.

"Ah." The dark one said quietly, thinking it over a little before giving a slight nod. "That makes sense." He then glanced at Cassidy again briefly before he looked back out at the two poles in silence. He seemed fairly relaxed now, though he was still probably going to be a bit tense for a while. Who could blame him though? It was a massive culture shock to go through.

Add to that fact, that there were spirit forms that were coming alive outside the car as they passed into the protected land. Perhaps a temple of this modern world? The creatures though were very different from the monster earlier, and the wild dogs that Jafar would know from Egypt. These were true old wolves, protectors of a different class from the two felines, with the slightly smaller coyote cozens running between their legs. Above were the winged forms of raven and crow, all the old spirits were ready to pounce to defend and gleefully so...

The queen hissed as one wolf moved as if getting ready to drag the dark one out. It took some rapid speaking between the holy cat and the lead spirit before they backed up, and then vanished into mist that curled into the carvings of the poles. All without Cassidy seeing them, she was able but only if they wanted.

Jafar was given a chance by the protectors, though they would undoubtedly be watching.

Jafar had notably grown uneasy when he saw the spirits ready to tie a beating on him, though he didn't move, unwilling to provide any reason to give the creatures a reason to try and knock the stuffing out of him. Swallowing quietly, he muttered something that sounded like a prayer for mercy in ancient Egyptian, though he was speaking too quietly to really be heard. The truth was, it really was a prayer. He really didn't want to get killed just yet. Sure he was ages old, but still, ages old felt like too young to die as far as he saw it.

Small fingers touched the dark one's knee, Cassidy had pulled into the inside of the car port of her smaller home off the side of her father's place and vet business. there was enough room that Jafar could stretch out or stand at his full size in here.

The dark one jumped slightly when Cassidy touched him, but he tried to get over it before he got too embarrassed about being startled by a 'little girl'. He looked out the windows again now, seeming a little curious, though perhaps a bit nervous to leave the car now that he knew there were spirits around that were quite possibly waiting for him to screw up so they could have a bit of 'fun'. Even still though, he would get out and just hope he didn't do something stupid enough to warrant a grade-A thrashing.

Cassidy slipped out, gave the car's tire a kick to be sure it would let Jafar out again before closing the car port large door and tracking down the cat food. She put far more than normal in, as she knew her pet and guardian would leave enough for the queen, and then she stumbled through the door to the small apartment like house. Because of her 'adventures' of the last day, Cassidy tilted and fell onto the couch before passing out right there, energy drained.

Jafar cautiously followed Cassidy in silence before blinking as she fell over on the couch. "... ehm... rest well?" He then looked around the room with uncertainty, now seeming a bit more on edge as he sat down on the floor and fumbled a bit with his hat, his hawk yellow eyes looking over everything that was around him.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up was slow, sluggish, and came with a killer head ache at the 'hang-over' level. It was enough to have the paper witch curling up more around the throw pillow on the couch. The fake-furr blanket on the back had somehow been pulled over her, and on top of that, Claws was sprawled over her side and hip, giving warmth.

All and all, Cassidy didn't want to get up and was happy to go back to sleep again... only she couldn't since her bladder said a resounding 'NO!'

As Cassidy woke up, she may have caught a glimpse of Jafar, just starting to drift off, though he ended up swaying and falling forwards, whacking his head on the coffee table and quite effectively jolting himself back into a wakeful state, his yellow eyes wide and his cheeks flushing a bit red as he rubbed his forehead, a sheepish gleam faintly traceable in his eyes.

Thankfully for him and his dignity, Cassidy hadn't seen, but the resulting thump had her jerking up right with wide eyes. She stared around as two cats laughed gleefully at the actions and reactions of both bipeds.

"Whaa?" Cassidy asked groggily, confused.

Jafar just blinked a few times, turning his gaze to Cassidy and giving a small nod as though to say good morning, though he ended up turning his gaze quickly to his hat where it lay on the floor, as though it were suddenly of very much amusement. There was a red mark on his head where he hit the table, and his cheeks were a little red still. He could tell the cats were laughing, and that didn't really help him get over the embarrassment of his rude awakening either.

The girl squeaked, confused as she pulled her fluffy guardian against her chest to cling to Claws, as that was the tom's name. At first not understanding why this odd person was in her home... and then memory kicked into gear. Right after that was something else that slid into place and had the girl scrambling off the couch and running past Jafar to the bathroom. The first need of the day for humans.

Jafar blinked with surprise as she ran past, but he had a feeling he shouldn't follow, and as such he stayed where he was, muttering in ancient Egyptian about making a fool out of himself early on in the day. He wasn't severely phased though. He could tell that Cassidy hadn't really registered quiet what he'd done.

It was a few minutes before Cassidy emerged, blushing bright red herself as she gathered up a few cloths and darted back into the bathroom. She tried her best to pretend meeting a 'monster' was a perfectly normal thing. When she came back out again, Cassidy was dressed in a brown skirt, a tank-top with a longer sleeve shirt over top that was tan and too big so it was a little loose.

Jafar looked up at her when she came out in her new attire. He tilted his head a little before looking at his own cloths, frowning slightly and seeming thoughtful. He'd finally realized that his outfit made him stick out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless though, he shrugged and looked up at Cassidy with a 'did you sleep well?' sort of expression. He'd given up on using his voice for the time being.

Cassidy attacked her little kitchenette, and using a little trick she'd learned from her grandmother to heat two cups of water, she had some tea started. Pacing back over she shyly offered the larger cup to Jafar. The younger caster ended up setting her cup down in order to raid a book shelf and pulled down one of the teaching books. Perched up on the couch again, to be closer to the dark one's level she got set to tackle the word problem between them.

Jafar blinked at the offer, but smiled faintly as he nodded and accepted the tea. He then proceeded to watch her set about getting the books, his expression showing curiosity. Those didn't look like papyrus... he shrugged it off though. He'd seen books in the Shadow Realm before, and figured these weren't that much different.

There was no magic clinging to the books, yet the words were about that very same thing. Cassidy had three, one on either side and the largest in her lap. She kept glancing between Jafar's armored collar, the attached shoulder pads [as they were the only armor visible] and his staff. However the paper witch knew better then to even try and touch his staff to get a better look at those carvings; she could feel the wards on it from over on the couch and didn't want to trigger any.

Jafar watched her gaze with curiosity, though each time she looked at his staff, he moved it a little closer to himself. Yep, she probably wouldn't be getting a good look at that any time soon. He seemed fairly relaxed otherwise though.

"AHAH!" The girl cried after some peaceful quiet minutes of reading and looking between the books. Cassidy promptly covered her mouth as she blushed for the out cry, looking up guiltily at the red-robed caster.

Jafar had relaxed himself mostly by this point, but the girl's rather sudden exclamation made him jump, choking a little on the tea he had just tried to swallow. Coughing, he set his cup down so he didn't drop it, eyes watering as he peered through his unshed tears at the girl who was now watching him. He had only one word going through his mind at the moment; the ancient Egyptian equivalent to the word 'ouch'.

Wincing, Cassidy awkwardly patted the dark one on the closer shoulder pad, trying to make up for her blunder she then pointed at her book, reading aloud a passage. She listed off what had to be ingredients... then faltered, flushing as she realized this spell was above her level. After a moment she perked back up, "Nana," she said looking to the main house.

Jafar mustered a weak smile as he finished coughing and wiped the tears out of his eyes. He then looked curiously at her, trying to figure out what she was saying. Eventually he just shrugged, showing that nothing of what she'd just told him had really sunk in as translatable.

Fitting a book marker into place, the girl looked up into his yellow eyes and held to fingers pointing down. She 'walked' them a bit and pointed out the window to the main building, asking something with a questioning inflection.

The caster thought this over a bit before pointing at himself, then her, and shrugging. He didn't really know who was supposed to go. He then ran a hand through his hair and sighed tiredly. It was clear that he wasn't sighing at Cassidy though; he was sighing at the fact neither could understand each other.

Cassidy hopped up, clutching her book with one arm and offering her other hand out, "Jafar?" She asked, remembering his name. She looked at him, even in her well-worn work skirt and her father's shirt, too big to properly cling to her and kept sliding off one shoulder or another, and frizzy hair from sleeping without taking it out of the braid... she still had an almost innocent look about her. Or maybe it was just friendliness.

Jafar took hold of her hand as he got up, though he knew better than to let her try and pull him to his feet. He was probably a bit too heavy for that. Once he was standing, he said quietly. "...Cassidy... hm?" Whether that was trying to re-confirm her name or simply trying to ask her what they were off to do was anyone's guess. Either way though, he seemed fine enough to follow her.

Making sure to have a good hold of his hand, the girl pulled to get him to fallow her, "Come one Claws- I need you be friends so not to freak Nana out." She said in English, fumbling to open the main door and not drop her book, or let go of Jafar. Not that easy a thing to do. The big tom cat yawned, but as the dark one passed he leapt over to balance on his shoulder.

Jafar followed after the girl, blinking when Claws jumped onto him, but saying nothing as he gently reached over with his other hand and opened the door for Cassidy. He gave a small, satisfied seeming nod after doing this, as though glad he could do something useful without being told how to do it.

She said something that seemed to be thanks, tugging the dark one with her to the vet clink, and then around the outside just in case there was someone inside that maybe shouldn't see a magical being. Cassidy was going to where she knew her grandmother, and teacher, was every morning feeding herbal rich 'treats' to the barn animals in her father's care. "Nana!" she called looking around, "Nana!"

Jafar hurried along after her, looking around with curiosity as he went. He was still wary about the spirit creatures, having a strong feeling that they were watching him like a hawk, but he kept himself mainly calm seeming. He looked curiously at Cassidy as she called out, but he kept quiet all the same.

Who came out of the barn was very clearly an elder, not the speediest of people but for her old age the woman was walking well enough. She had on a pair of black slacks and a zipped up blue jacket with boots on her feet. Unable to go barefoot like Cassidy, but like her granddaughter, Nana had her grey and white hair braided back with feathers and other interesting things woven into it. Her eyes were such a dark brown they were almost black, and were very sharp as her gaze locked onto Jafar first, her grip on her own staff tightening as she saw shadows licking around him.

Jafar recoiled slightly at the elderly woman's gaze, his eyes holding uncertainty, though he made no motion to reach for his staff. Instead, the dark one turned his gaze to the ground, a means of both trying to avoid seeming aggressive, and to try and get his thoughts collected before he looked at the aged woman again. He had a good feeling this woman had the power to boot him back to the Shadow Realm if she wanted to, and he wasn't about to risk doing anything that could earn him an express flight.

Slender fingers gripped his hand, both to reassure and to get some as Cassidy swallowed, having a healthy dose of respect for her grandmother. "Nana... um, I kind of need your help."

"That, is a dark thing." The elder said gabbing a bony finger at Jafar, "And you're holding his hand with that look you get when you find strays..." Nana didn't have a good feeling about this, more so when Cassidy gave a nervous giggle.

Jafar hesitated a moment, but looked at Cassidy curiously when she giggled, though he glanced at the elder after a moment. He avoided eye contact, but he was at least holding himself in a way that the woman could look at his face better. He gave a faint, awkward seeming smile, making him look as though he were a bit nervous of the elder, and perhaps a bit sheepish about the whole situation. Of course, his sheepishness was probably due to the fact that, if he tried to say anything, it'd probably just sound like gibberish.

Cassidy was leaning forward, braced against him again as she tried (and failed) to pull the dark one closer to Nana, but was talking as she did so, "I found him last night- well, actually he found me, and I think he was the one to get rid of the zombie dogs-"

Nana arched an eyebrow, "Zombie dogs?" she asked wondering just what her little paper witch had been into.

"-yeah, these zombie dog thingies I ran into last night. But he saved me, and both Claws up there and this other light-cat, approved of him. But he talks in a dead tongue, when not speaking cat, I think that was a spell... I'm pretty sure I found a better translation spell but I'm not strong enough to cast it."

"I don't think you're budging him." Nana commented dryly, watching Cassidy have no luck.

Jafar blinked, finally clueing in on what Cassidy was trying to do, and, giving her a small nudge to indicate he was actually going to move, took a few steps closer, though he stopped just out of reach in case Nana wanted to hit him with her staff. It wouldn't have been the first time someone took a swing at him with a large stick-like object...

Shaking that memory out of his mind, he murmured quietly, though not so quiet that Nana couldn't hear him. "...Hello." And, just like he figured, it was in his own language.

A caw came from the raven as it landed on Nana's shoulder, laughing at him and the girl from its safe perch.

"Shush Babo," Cassidy scolded, and when she couldn't get the dark one closer she gave up in favor of opening her book again and flipping it around for the elder to peer at it. "Can you do this, please Nana?"

Jafar glanced at the bird and frowned somewhat, but did nothing other than that. In fact, he looked away from the bird after a little while, turning his gaze to Nana and Cassidy, his eyes showing that he was rather hoping for a chance to actually communicate without needing to make odd hand gestures, strange expressions, or look to the cats to translate it.

When his attention returned, it was just in time to see the bundle of herbs that was tossed at him by the elder. Cassidy getting one as well, though it was lightly tossed onto the book instead. Jafar caught the bundle as soon as it was in his reach, his hold on it firm enough that he didn't drop it, but surprisingly gentle so none of the herbs were damaged by his grip. He then looked at Nana and gave her an appreciative smile as well as a nod, showing that he was genuinely thankful for her help.

The elder was evidently explaining what to do, and from Cassidy's wide eyed expression it was either very complicated, or just strange as some magic happened to be.

The dark one stayed quiet while the aged woman explained what to do and how to do it, knowing better than to interrupt an old person. He could remember back to his days before becoming a Dark Magician, knowing full well that his own grandfather had a hand like a hammer and speed like lightning. The thought back to his old life twanged a sorrowful note in his heartstrings and he gave a very quiet sigh, but he quickly shook it from his mind and re-focused on the situation at hand. There was no point in letting his mind wander to things he could not change.

A furry face leaned over, and Claws gave a rare encouraging gesture [at least to anyone other then his charge], by purring like an engine and giving Jafar a lick to his cheek. Jafar blinked as this happened, his expression one of surprise as he glanced to the side, just enough to look at Claws. At first, he merely held surprise on his face, but after a moment he twitched a faint smile. Claws' actions definitely seemed to help lift his mood.

Cassidy grasped and tugged on the dark one's fingers for his attention, "Jafar? We have to go back." she said.

The dark one turned his attention to her right away. "Hm?" He didn't really know what she said, but he figured she'd probably figure that out fairly soon, given the curious look in his eyes.

She had given her book to the elder to get again later, so she was free to point to where her seeming home was. "That way."

Jafar watched her for a moment before looking towards where she was pointing. "... Ah." He then nodded slightly to show he got the picture.

So, back to where they started, though this time Cassidy made Jafar stay in the car port, leaving the inner door open so he could see her getting apple juice and pouring the right amounts out. One cup for her, and about four for him in a bowl. She didn't have a cup that big. Coming back, Cassidy took a deep breath before attempting to explain to the dark one by charades to return to his true size.

Jafar watched Cassidy's actions for a little while before cluing in, nodding as he let his size altering charm fade, and returned to his full height, approximately 10' 2", not including his hat.

Cassidy couldn't help staring for a few seconds, Jafar was rather impressive like that, before remembering to offer him the bowl. She shook out her crushed herbs into the apple juice, and admit-able looking like she wasn't sure this would work while she poked at the mixture to get the leaves to soak.

Jafar's face went faintly red when Cassidy stared at him, though he watched her put the herbs in, and then raised an eyebrow. "Hm?" He asked as he glanced between the bowl he was now holding, and the bundle of herbs he had, as though asking if he was supposed to do the same thing.

Cassidy nodded, motioning for him to do the same while she pulled herself up to sit on the hood of her car. She looked around, wondering if there was something she could offer the dark one to sit on instead of the bricked floor. She really didn't have anything though.

Jafar gave a faint nod before putting his own bundle of herbs into the apple juice and absently watching them soak for a moment or two before looking at Cassidy, tilting his head a little before glancing around and, shrugging a little as though he really didn't care, sitting down on the floor, seeming perfectly content as he was. Perhaps he was used to it.

"I don't think you're going to fit on my spare futon," Cassidy commented with another giggle at that mental image.

Jafar tilted his head a little, seeming a bit curious as he looked at her again. He didn't know what she said, but she giggled so he figured it must've been amusing. As this was the case, he ended up giving her a small smile.

"Well..." The paper witch poked her drink again to see if the herbs had soaked, "Here goes nothing. Cheers?" she looked up at Jafar before starting to drink. The good thing was that it wasn't bitter, the apple juice was to thank for that. Cassidy's face though had several very interesting and amusing expressions though, as she wasn't trained not to do so.

She gave a squeak once done, tilting the cup to show the dark one that the herbs had to be drunk as well as the juice.

The dark one watched curiously, taking note of the absence of herbs. He nodded slightly, took in a deep breath as though to steady himself, and then drank the apple juice. He made an amusing face once he'd finished, his expression showing he wasn't really sure if he liked it or not, but all the same he gave a small grin as he tilted the bowl, as though to show Cassidy that he'd made sure he swallowed the herbs as well.

"I guess we just wait, that's what Nana said...but I don't know how long." Good thing she wasn't hungry just yet, even with the drain on her mana. Cassidy paused as a paper crane fluttered by, watching it drift and beat its wings as it migrated from carport to house.

Jafar still wasn't sure what she said, but shrugged slightly again before blinking and watching the paper crane with obvious amusement. He gave a faint chuckle of sorts as he watched it fly off out of sight. "Cute." He commented quietly.

With nothing better to do, the human girl pulled her braid around and started undoing it, taking out the feathers and beads that had been woven it. It was hypnotic work and passed the time, though in general Cassidy looked like she was ready to go back asleep not just from her drain but also unknowingly from the mix of herbs and the charms on them.

Jafar shifted a little now, seeming as though the tenseness in his muscles was fading a bit. He didn't seem too bothered about it either. If anything he seemed as though he were actually- legitimately- relaxing.

It would take a minute, after Cassidy finished finger combing her hair out, for the dark one to realize that although she was looking at him, the girl's eyes were glazed over. She looked very close to dropping off in sleep once more, as well as dropping off the car since she was sitting on the edge of the black hood.

The 'monster' did notice this, standing up and moving a bit closer. He didn't sit on the car hood, fearing that he might accidentally dent it, but he had moved closer in case Cassidy actually did slide off. He didn't want her to hit the floor. He'd experienced severe floor-hitting before, and he wasn't exactly that happy about the end results.

"Mmm'ka," Cassidy mumbled as she, belatedly, saw that Jafar had moved closer, but her plastic cup slipped out of her hands to bounce and roll under the car. At the same time she swayed a little, reaching out to steady herself of anything in reach.

The dark one saw Cassidy swaying, and as such he reached out to steady her. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked quietly, sounding concerned.

"I'm tired," Cassidy answered, her arms curling automatically around the supporting arm, head lowering. She also completely missed the realization that the question was understandable.

Jafar gave a sharp inhale of surprise, blinking several times as he noticed he could actually understand what she said. Biting his lip a little, he gave a small smile. "Well, I can see that part..." He said quietly. "You look like you could use a nap."

The girl nodded, her eyes already drifting close as she slumped, if not for the 'monster' holding her up she would had met the ground already.

Jafar blinked several times at this, seeming a bit awkward as he shifted and carefully moved her so he was holding her. Praying that he wouldn't get throttled for holding her, he moved and sat down again, resting Cassidy in his lap and looking around with notable awkwardness. He wasn't tense or supremely worried. Just a bit unsure of what to do with himself now.

The pale feline queen poked her head out of the now open car door window, looking around while she sniffed. Spotting them, she gave a slow catty grin of her delicate teeth. Well that's how it was supposed to be in her eyes, the feline hopped down and back to her kittens while the paper witch seemed to automatically try and cuddle closer to the living warmth.

The dark one blinked when he saw the cat, but his attention was quickly returned back to Cassidy as she cuddled closer to him. Giving an awkward smile, he murmured under his breath. "... The heck with it..." And thus, held her a bit closer with both arms, smiling a little as he pretty much cuddled her in return. It made his cheeks flush just thinking about it, but he decided it felt nice to have someone he could cuddle for the time being. It was like a big dose of happy just showed up in his life. Not romantic happy, though. Just contentedness.

The young paper witch seemed to go boneless, as much recovering still as being affected by the charm her grandmother used to help both sleep-learn [in a way] from each other. Cassidy was braced easily thanks to the size different right where she was, and if she had been more aware...probable wouldn't have moved at all, even with the hidden armor.

Jafar, in the meantime, smiled as he closed his eyes, just content to sit there and hold Cassidy while she rested. "... I've come to decide something..." He mumbled under his breath so he wouldn't disturb the paper witch in his arms. "... I... kind of like it here..."

"Its a protected place," A feline voice pointed out, sounding like the male guardian, where ever he had gotten to.

Jafar inhaled sharply, looking around with curiosity, though not a great deal of unease. "It's a lot nicer here than it is in the Shadow Realm." He agreed quietly. "It's stranger than strange normally is for me, but... it's a nice sort of strange, I think."

"but you're being tugged back server," Claws said as he emerged out from under the car, sniffing at the edges of Jafar's robes, batting an inquisitive paw at the shadows there.

The 'monster' sighed at that, glancing at the edges of his robe as well, though he quirked the faintest of smiles when Claws batted at the cloth. "That is... an unfortunate thing." He responded quietly. "... I'll just have to find a way back though. Maybe I'll even turn up in this general area again when I do."

The feline looked up, clearly doubting his words in that way cats had for knowing what might be coming. Claws seemed to no longer be in a talkative mood as he pounced on the nearest, larger wisp of shadow, biting it down in to submission. He repeated the process a few times, but was unable to keep the shadows back more then this, as he was meant to guard against living threats not magic.

Jafar watched the cat attack the shadows, and eventually even shifted to swat one of the more 'adventurous' wisps away from the higher up parts of the fabric. "I'll find a way somehow..." He murmured quietly as he moved his hand back to where it had been before. "I'll just have to be quick with figuring it out, that's all..."

Cassidy shifted, trying to get closer with a cuddle, for now peacefully oblivious to what was going on around her for the next hour or hour and a half in the needed nap.

The dark one's gaze turned to Cassidy as she shifted, and he adjusted his hold so she was closer to his frame, though not uncomfortable. For a little while, he was content to just sit and watch her rest, though after a minute or two his thoughts returned to trying to find a way to stay in this world instead of go back to the Shadow Realm. He didn't know how much time he had left either and that didn't really give him much comfort.

Cassidy was a magic user, though the style was very different. Even in her restoring state, the dark one may very well get a good reading off her. The magic itself was... in a word, soft. Not weak on a whole as it was also new, but there was a gentler feel. The paper witch wasn't like the old users, for keeping spirits back from the living. Not exactly.

Feeling this softness of arcane arts seemed to intrigue Jafar, his expression showing curiosity as he abandoned his dilemma for the time being to look at Cassidy. He didn't recall the last time he'd felt a magic similar to that. Perhaps it was from a Mystical Elf... he had no idea, and at the moment he really didn't care. All he knew was it was a nice feeling, one that made him feel even more inclined to want to stay on Earth than go back to the Shadow Realm where he technically belonged.

The girl shifted, reacting to a dream as she gripped the red robes, despite the spell and herbal reaction Cassidy's eyes cracked open. A stirring of magic and a shift on a shell with loose printer paper meant she was reflexively trying to pull a shield up to the possible monster in her dream.

The dark one grimaced as he held her a little closer. "Shh..." He said softly. "Be at peace, Cassidy... dreams cannot harm you. You can change the course of your mind's game..."

She twitched in reaction, hearing the words on a level, but it was when Claws abandoned his self proclaimed war on the tendrils of shadows that she calmed down. The big tom cat hopped up to Jafar's leg, over it and to where he could plop his considerable bulk in between them. A little wiggle and the guardian cat was purring madly as Cassidy automatically curled around him and leaned into the larger source of living warmth.

Jafar smiled faintly as Cassidy calmed and relaxed again. "Well... at least she's calm..." He said quietly, not really to anyone in particular. He was just glad that the nightmare seemed to have ended.

A pale head popped up into view at his words, the feline queen in the car. Though her eyes were half lidded and tired, with that edge of exasperation all parents had. The little holy one yawned and ducked back down to leave Jafar in peace.

The dark one noticed her, but said nothing as he turned his gaze back to Cassidy. The more he thought about it, the more falling asleep seemed like a good idea. However, he really didn't want to smack his head on anything in here. Everything seemed a bit less cushy than the coffee table had been, and that wasn't exactly a pile of feathers to hit. As such, he stayed awake, occupying his mind with various little fantasies about this and that, as well as previous adventures - and misadventures - in the Shadow Realm.

Some time later there was a soft tugging on his robes, and sleepy, but still aware chocolate brown eyes were looking up, craning to see Jafar's face without moving much. Jafar blinked as he turned his gaze to look back at the brown ones. "Yes?" He asked quietly, sounding curious as to what he might be needed for.

"You make a good pillow, even with the hard as iron muscles..." Cassidy giggled softly.

The dark one blinked again, his face tinting a bit red as he smiled at her. "It doesn't help my case that I am wearing armor, but I'm glad you think so." He chuckled softly before adding, "Nice to actually know what you're saying now, by the way."

"I told you Nana could do it." Cassidy said, hugging the boneless fuzzy lump that was her cat, but making no move to get up, "...though I don't really know how the transfer works...yet."

Jafar smiled a little more. "At this point, I'm not about to question the how of it. I'm simply happy that it happened. Our other method of conversing was, perhaps, a bit too unorthodox for my liking."

"Cats... great protectors, not so much translators, only doing one side." She looked up from scratching Claws' ears, "Where did you find Isis? She's been missing for weeks- even I heard about the Wicca temple being violated out here."

The dark one blinked at the cat's name. "... Her name is Isis, and yet she had no idea who Ra is? ... peculiar." He mentally waved that aside however. "She was actually right near where I appeared in this world, to be fully honest with you. At first she probably would have beat me silly, though I'm thankful she didn't. Cat fights are not my primary choice of recreational activities..."

"I don't think she could do much to you since you're not transparent and dead..." Cassidy tried, "she's a guard against raw spirits, not...umm...I don't have a word for you. Claws on the other hand... he could do damage.

Jafar thought that over a bit. "Well, that's good to know, at least..." He then chuckled quietly. "I believe some people might call me a 'Duel Monster' ... Not fully sure why. Anyway, I am a Dark Magician."

"Like...the game I've seen in stories?" Cassidy's brow crumpled in confusion, she mouthed his title of sorts. "Dark... but not bad." _Scary as hell first meeting...but will help kittens._

Jafar blinked. "It's a... game? Hm... That would explain the title of 'Duel Monsters'... That sounds intriguing."

"It's a card game, from what I understand," She shrugged against him, Cassidy blushed a bit, "I like Halo more myself, video games in general. Though I have a taro set somewhere I got as a present."

He seemed confused. "... Video game? That is a term I am unfamiliar with. What is a video game?" He paused, thinking a little while. "... Your world is very interesting."

"Its... a game, but its not real, or sport." Cassidy tried to explain it, and smiled a little at the second comment, "It is, but things seem to like to hit the boring-as-bonkers or chaos-abound levels at random times. More so for anyone with a gift."

"A gift... referring to magic, yes?" The Dark Magician inquired, seeming rather interested. "So... I am going to guess that people are still mostly powerless in the regard to magic unless they are born with the gift to wield it. Or am I incorrect?"

"Well, according to the local belief, local and- forgive me, modern view: no one is devoid of magic." Cassidy started, sitting up a little so she was no longer slumped against Jafar. "There's degrees of awareness and then more substantial magics; the base level is what normal everyday people have. Step up from there and its those who can glimpse things. Step up again and you have the potential users. Each fallowing step after that is the skill of the casters and user."

"Ah..." Jafar responded, thinking that over a bit and considering something he could liken it to. "... Like troop ranks in an army... " He finally concluded, his tone showing that he wasn't really proud of the association he'd chosen. "There are the rabble of foot soldiers, followed by the generals, and so on, eventually up to the commanders... yes?"

"That's one way of putting it," Cassidy nodded, not seeming offended at all by the comparison. She blushed next as she looked down to run her fingers through orange fur, "I'm not very strong... I don't think there /is/ a 'strong' paper witch, and my kind as that is only a hundred or so years old on top of that."

Jafar thought it over a little before giving a small smile. "Strength is not judged by magical power... it is judged by heart." He responded. "Yes, magical potential is important to some... but it isn't all important."

"Give me paper though..." Cassidy, though her cheeks still tinted managed to smile, and impishly so [in a youngster way not the real imps], "Or a book that doesn't want to be opened, I can do that. I can find any book or file I want. In hand or in the computer."

Jafar paused again. "... Forgive my lack of present knowledge, but... what's a computer?

"That...I will explain later, after you get some understanding of some other electronics... but it is kinda like a library in a book."

The DM seemed rather interested in this. "I see... I will look forward to learning about that. But all things in their own time, so I will wait patiently until you deem it to be the right time."

 _No letting the powerful caster near the internet without watching._ Cassidy said firmly, paling just a tad about some of those exposure risks. Though she had met a pretty cool seeming troll online, a true troll that is. Green skin and all.

Jafar, in the meantime, was lost in his mind, smiling happily before blinking and looking at the shadows wisping further up his robe. "...I'll have to deal with that soon..." He murmured faintly.

"Deal with what- eep!" Cassidy started, only to just as something cold touched her ankle, and then squeaked again as Claws came alive again to pounce on the shadow and bite it until retracted. At that point the girl was pretty much standing in the Dark Magician's lap, having to do so to get out of the way of her guardian's namesakes.

Jafar jumped slightly before sighing. "I'm slowly being called back home..." He explained, not too phased by what happened in his lap. "I haven't found a way to stay in this realm permanently, so... until there's a way to change it, I'll be stuck going back to the Shadow Realm and trying to find a way to come here again."

"Your world...is yanking you back?" Cassidy asked, looking around and staying nicely balanced on his thigh, though leaned into the dark one's chest more for comfort as her cat took up his war from before as only a feline could.

The DM nodded, sighing quietly and seeming almost regretful. "Yes. I may have belonged to this world once, but... not any more. How best to explain... hm..." He thought a bit before saying dismally. "It's like the mother who constantly worries about her child, and as such drags him away from a crowded marketplace before he can actually meet the kids who play there."

Cassidy considered, and a very faint word of. "Nana..." was almost not heard. "I understand," the girl looked up, though not as much as before, as her new spot let the younger caster be nearly eye level with the Dark Magician.

Jafar didn't seem to understand what she was talking about. "I'm not sure what you mean, Cassidy? I don't understand?"

The girl looked down, and then back up to meet the yellow gaze, "I understand what you mean. Nana's still like that with me... kinda why I'm living _here_ within the protected grounds of the poles, instead of in town."

He considered that before nodding a little. "Perhaps we can find a way to convince her that you're strong enough to stand on your own feet... At least... I hope I can help with that. I feel as though I owe you a great deal, Cassidy, simply because you were so willing to help me when I needed someone to help."

"I don't think I can, not without a coven." Cassidy said shaking her head, but she leaned forward and quickly, shyly placed a kiss on Jafar's cheek. She ducked her head almost trying to hide against his armored shoulder and collar guard to avoid eye contact and to hide her blush.

Jafar's cheeks went a bit pink when she did that, and he gave a small chuckle, gently hugging her again as he considered the situation. "... Are you allowed to start one?"

"Anyone is," Cassidy said, not lifting her head so speaking to his shoulder, "but for a proper strength in a coven to tack hold needs at least three people. Everyone in my age and skill range I know of... already have established covens." She didn't want to intrude on the working harmony they had. Plus she would need those willing to defend a paper witch if something... bad... came around.

Again, the DM lost himself in thought about the situation, though he finally concluded. "Then we will just have to find others who are willing to join you in a new one. There has to be a few people who would..."

The girl peeked up, her brown eyes doubting, the concept of meeting enough new people... yeah, there's her conic shyness again. Hi there.

Jafar looked at her curiously. "... I take it you are a rather shy person. We will find a way to get around that."

Cassidy squeaked.

He chuckled and smiled a little. "I didn't say we had to do that right away. Take things at your own pace. It'll be better that way."

"But... how long..." _How long are you here?_ she couldn't quiet ask the question aloud.

The dark one grimaced as he glanced at his robes, having figured out what she was meaning fairly quickly. "I'm... not actually sure." He responded. "I'm feeling mild strain already, and the shadows appear to be trying to advance a lot faster now than they had before..." He sighed as he shook his head. "I'm going to estimate that I have several more hours, but I am not fully certain."

"And you're gone...just like that?" Cassidy asked, her eyes and heart clouding with sadness. She had just made a new friend, as it seemed, and he would be gone just like that?

"... I believe that will be the case." He replied after a moment's pause. "I do not fully know what will happen. I've never done this before. I will, however, do everything in my power to return as soon as possible when I leave this world. I'm not going to abandon this place as quickly as I did all those years ago."

"...what happened?" Cassidy asked slowly, "Where do you come from, both 'times?' It sounded like you were speaking Arabic almost...but not."

"You mean my place of first origin?" He inquired. "Egypt. Apparently, ancient Egypt going by what year it is presently."

"I don't think I could live in a desert climate." or anywhere that didn't have running water and power for that matter, let alone no internet and two libraries and so many book stores in a half an hour's drive away."

Jafar laughed quietly. "Life back then was certainly a lot different than it is now. From what I can see at least."

"Life is different every generation." Cassidy pointed out softly.

The Dark Magician nodded a bit, his expression gaining a twinge of sadness as he thought about it. "Yes, I will agree with you on that." He mentally shook himself out of his regrets again. He had made his choice to become a Dark Magician, there was no sense being sad about what it cost when he could not change the past.

"...erm," Cassidy blushed again as her body, middle, decided to remind her that it had to have protein to make up the energy spent the day before, "Would you like some lunch?"

Jafar didn't need to think long before he answered. "That would probably be a good idea. Though... Am I allowed to adjust my size now?"

Brown eyes widen, "I think so."

He smiled a little. "Only one way to find out I suppose. Though... It might be wise if you got off me first." He shifted as he said this, moving his arms so Cassidy could get off easily.

"Right." Cassidy crouched and then slid off of the monster, though a part of her was reluctant to do so. He was big enough that she could hide very easily in his arms, let alone the robes. No one could see her if she was daring enough to do _that_.

Once she was off, Jafar cast a resizing spell on himself, shrinking down to be six feet tall again. He then stood up and smiled. "There, that's much more workable for an indoors situation." He concluded with a faint laugh.

"At least my indoors," Cassidy commented a tad wryly, smiling again.

He laughed quietly as he nodded. "Yes, and at the moment that is the part that matters." He smiled back at her as he said this. His eyes showed signs of peacefulness that hadn't been present before. He most likely trusted Cassidy a fair bit now, and probably even considered her to be a friend.

The younger caster reached out automatically to take his hand, tugging to go back inside while she thought of the yummy smoked salmon in her fridge.

Jafar smiled as she caught hold of his hand, and smiled as he walked along with her. "You like tugging my arm, I take it?" he asked jokingly, a playful smile visible plain as day on his face.

Aaaand there was another embarrassed squeak while Cassidy's finger's slackened their grip. "I'm sorry!"

He shook his head as he laughed quietly. "It's quite alright." He responded with amusement. "It's quite understandable that you would do that, considering how you had to communicate with me up until this point. I'm not bothered at all."

"Better then dealing with a seagull," Cassidy sighed and then giggled. She stopped suddenly and turned to look up at the man that wasn't quite a man, "...what do you eat by the way?" _please don't be emotions or something weird like that, please-please._ she couldn't help thinking.

Jafar blinked at her comment, and then chuckled at her question. "Dear Cassidy," he replied with amusement. "I might be a 'monster' by this world's terms, but I am still human enough to eat like one." He then chuckled again. "And thankfully my appetite doesn't match my natural size."

"Okay..." Cassidy blushed as she let go of him to poke her head into the fridge to gather the needed things to make her smoked salmon salad. More than normal both from her own needs to recover as well her bigger guest- just in case.

The dark one smiled as he watched her do this, his gaze taking in the various features the kitchenette had. After all, he hadn't ever seen a cooking area like this one before, and he wanted to be sure he would have a vague idea of what the set up was like in case he ever needed the information.

It was close to being an all in one room, with a bathroom in the back, also in the back were the closets for cloths and sheets in one, dry foods in the other. A TV was tucked in the corner with an X-box hocked up and a shelve of different movies, shows and games. It was a relatively normal if tiny modern room, apartment [or dorm room].

Cassidy offered Jafar a full bowl and a fork, "Here, I hope salmon settles with you. Its a fish."

The Dark Magician seemed rather curious about the X-Box, but said nothing about it, deciding it was probably something he shouldn't be asking about just yet. Instead, he quickly focused on Cassidy, accepting the bowl and fork as he smiled. "Ah. Thank you, Cassidy." He then blinked when he heard the tell-tale sound of someone that was hungry. His face tinted very faintly red. "Ehm..."

The girl was trying very hard not to giggle, really she was. Though a few little muffled snickers got out, so Cassidy hid behind a cup of hot chai with her own bowl in balanced on her knees.

Jafar smiled sheepishly as he spoke up. "I'm fine if you giggle, it is a rather amusing thing, and I myself am finding it hilarious in its own way. It's... it's actually been a while since I heard myself make that noise." He started to laugh quietly before he ate a bit of the salad. He thought the flavor over a bit before swallowing and smiling cheerfully. "And this tastes marvelous."

"Thank you," Cassidy managed to say between demolishing her own food as politely as it was possible to do so. "Would you tell me about where you came from before we met last night?" And before he left again.

He grimaced a little. "Well, that depends on what aspect you want to know about. The Shadow Realm is... difficult to explain as a whole, to be honest." He ate a little more before continuing. "It's also probably a lot more dangerous than this world is."

"You should meet a fire witch," Cassidy commented dryly, smirking, "They like it around here for their kids since it rains so much. But, besides that, how big is your realm?"

"It's an entire world in and of itself." He replied with a faint, grim seeming smile. "Full of magic, traps, people, monsters..." He then gave a sheepish laugh. "And perhaps a few people who should pay more attention in their studies now and then... anyway." He shook the sheepishness away. "It's... a fantasy world that bites back when people try to take it over. I taught a particular acquaintance of mine that little lesson after he insisted on causing problems..."

"It sounds a little like Raven's world," Cassidy considered, thoughtfully chewing her next bite before looking up, "I hope you're not alone."

"Not alone in what?" Jafar asked. "Protecting the Shadow Realm? No, I'm not the only one. There are a fair few others who keep things generally under control."

"That's good. Can you take things from this world there?" Cassidy looked up.

"... mind my asking why you want to know that?" He questioned, his expression now grim and uncertain. His mind was reeling now; what if she asked him to take her with him? What if he had a hard time saying no? The last thing he needed was to get a girl in trouble, not to mention tick off the spirits guarding this land that already were watching him in case he even so much as put a toe out of line.

Cassidy did something very strange instead of answering, setting down her cup she hocked a finger on her shirt and reached in. After a moment she pulled out the necklesses that had been hidden under. "Here," She untangled one from the others, and her hair, before holding out the leather braid with glittering crystal beads that framed a shark tooth. "Take this with you Jafar, its a good luck charm."

The Dark Magician blinked as he carefully and gently accepted the necklace. He looked it over a little before smiling faintly, very gently tracing the tooth shape with his finger. "...well, to answer your question... yes." He responded softly. He very gently, very carefully put it on before he turned his yellow eyes to Cassidy and smiled a bit more. "I will take it with me back to the Shadow Realm, and I'll make sure nobody can take it away from me... I promise."

"It was made locally, with local magic," Cassidy explained, "Shark is a protector of the sea, but not exactly in a gentle way... so maybe the charm will work in this Shadow Realm?"

He thought it over a bit before nodding. "I've met a man who holds the same respect for sharks... I believe that this charm will definitely be able to work in there."

"I hope it works," Cassidy worried as she sat back down to take up her salad again.

Jafar nodded a little. "I'm sure it will, Cassidy." Jafar smiled a little more as he set his now empty salad bowl aside. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he made any real noise, he suddenly gasped, gripping his head as though a migraine just hit him. After a little while, he moved a bit further away from any furniture, his hawk yellow eyes holding what looked like... panic? "Cassidy..." He said quietly, his voice sounding a bit shaky. "I... I'm not going to be able to hold on here much longer... I'm leaving... and I'm leaving fast." Even as he said this, the shadows around him were growing more around his frame. "I'm sorry..."

Hitching up her skirts up, Cassidy jumped onto the futon they were sitting on in order to give one last act of kindness, as for a reason she couldn't help but think Jafar didn't get many. She leaned against him long enough to place a kiss on his cheek before having to hop back away from the gasping shadows, as she did so Claws showed up and jumped to her shoulders to protect and keep the paper witch firmly rooted to this world.

Jafar blinked when she kissed him, his expression one of shock, but bittersweet happiness. "I will come back." He said as the shadows began to hide his face. "I won't leave this world for good. Not again!" That was when the shadows flared up around him, enveloping him fully and hiding his frame from view. Within a matter of moments the shadows faded away, leaving nothing behind... nothing, save a crimson and gold, almost cone-like hat. Jafar must've forgotten that he hadn't been wearing it when he was taken away.

"Merow." Claws commented, hoping down to investigate and sniff around to be sure it was clear.

"...Magic is always dramatic." Cassidy sighed as she sat down. After a long moment she reached over to grab the hat to pull it over into her lap, than hugged it, "Good luck dark one."


	3. Chapter 3

However, luck, it seemed, was something Jafar was starting to run out of. Considering that he had just re-appeared in a canyon in the Shadow Realm, in the midst of several other, more unsavory beings... including the 'acquaintance' he'd beaten up before. Before the Dark Magician had any time to react, he found himself slammed against the cliff face with several of the brutish monsters- one of which Jafar could tell was a Giant Orc, bashing at him with everything they had.

"That is enough." A calm, sadistically amused voice called, and the other beings moved back, allowing the Witty Phantom to move closer and inspect the Dark Magician's now rather battered frame. "So, mine own enemy comes to me just when I want him. How wonderful." He looked Jafar over for a few moments before laughing again, his fingers finding the leather strap of the necklace Jafar had been given. However, before he had a chance to take it off of the Dark Magician, Jafar's teeth clamped down on the Phantom's fingers, making him shriek loudly and jump back, shaking his hand and glaring at his quarry. Jafar merely coughed.

"Oh dear," eyes peered over the ledge on the top of the canyon. the owner of those eyes glared down as she spotted red robes pinned without the Dark Magician's staff in reach, before she darted away for a little more help, turning a stumble into a graceful mounting of her staff.

In the meantime, Jafar managed to tuck the necklace back under his armor again, coughing again and managing to move just enough that a punch avoided his head. He shook himself a little before trying to avoid a different hit. He wasn't quite as lucky that time, and slammed against the wall again, sliding down it into a sitting position and shuddering as he blearily looked up at the now bleary shapes that were closing in.

Through the tears in his eyes, which were now threatening to slide down his face, the downed spellcaster squinted blearily up at the Witty Phantom as he moved in and leaned over for a better look. "What's the matter, Jafar? Are you tired?" He sneered, though he yelped when the Dark Magician managed to haul off and slug him good and hard, his unarmored fist colliding with the Phantom's cheek and making him stumble backwards.

"Get... out of my face..." The spell caster hissed, only to cry out in pain when the Giant Orc kicked him good and hard.

The Phantom, in the meantime, smirked at Jafar when he yelled. "Now that is a sound I have wanted to hear in a very long time. I'm going to enjoy killing you, Magician. You've caused me ever-so-much trouble in the past, so I'm going to make sure you feel every bit of the suffering you deserve!"

Jafar coughed loudly, gasping a little before glaring at the orange-red skinned fiend and hissing through his teeth. "D-do your worst..."

There was a whisper of fabric, the ever present darkness of the Shadow Realm seemed to dim just a bit more as something... someone descended from above. He landed with no sound as the shadows curled around him, turquoise eyes narrowed and darken to sapphire. The Dark One- the first Dark Magician flipped his emerald staff around and swiped.

He didn't use magic, no this would not need it as the raw force of his staff connecting to the back of the phantom's head as only a magic infused idem could do.

There was a female laugh as the Dark One's apprentice poked her head out of his shadow, slipping out of the darkness and his robes. Blond bangs fell over her eyes as she winked at the group, holding not just her staff but Jafar's too, "Missing something boys?" She asked with a wicked smile, "I think Dark One is _upset_ at you."

The Phantom let out a cry as he collapsed, twitching and losing all signs of consciousness. Jafar's other assailants turned quickly, each seeming stunned, if not fearful, at the discovery that the Dark One was there, and far from impressed.

Jafar coughed again as he tried to focus on what was going on, though by now the extent of his rather unprovoked beating was starting to settle in, and consciousness seemed as though it wanted to take a hike. Then again, considering that Jafar was still quite tired from before, it was understandable that he was struggling to stay awake.

"Be banished deeper into the realm," The caster growled, darkness crackled over his staff and arms before lashing out to crush the other monsters. After a moment he stepped forward, and stepped on the Phantom, before extending his free hand. Dark purple hair fell loose as he stooped, "I think you should return to my castle with us Jafar."

The red-clad magician gave a feeble nod, not really even seeming as though he'd noticed what happened to the monsters who'd attacked him, though he knew for a fact that the Witty Phantom wasn't going to be feeling that grand when he woke up, if he woke up at all. Coughing quietly and shakily starting to try and struggle to his feet, it wasn't hard to see that he might need help. It was also blatantly obvious that, not only was his hat very much not in the Shadow Realm, but also that Jafar was still six feet tall, having not had a chance to grow to his original height after returning. And yet, despite it all, he still had enough fight in him to make him try and get up on his own without help.

"Yeah, you're paler then a ghost- and you're a monster." The girl sighed shaking her head as she moved to prop the taller man up., they were closer to the same size right now and she grinned, "Ra, you're stubborn."

Jafar probably would have laughed were he more awake. However, he found himself barely even able to keep some of his weight on his own feet. He gave another faint nod, though as he struggled to keep his head at least somewhat upright, he found himself murmuring words he didn't really expect to hear at that time. "... Have to... get back... to Cassidy... somehow..." He blinked slowly before turning his gaze to his saviors. "...th-thanks... f-for your help..." At least he managed to get that part out. It sounded as though even just talking was hurting. Then again, getting kicked in the chest by a Giant Orc does tend to do that to a person.

"He's rambling master," the girl complained as the Dark One stepped closer to the two before leaning down, and just picking the other caster up. The girl burst into laughter, hopping onto her staff to ride alone behind, the larger weapon over her lap at she grinned up at Jafar's face where he now was over a shoulder guard.

The presently smaller Dark Magician barely moved as he was picked up, his yellow eyes finally letting the tears fall from them as he weakly looked at the girl. "N-no... n-not rambling..." He murmured before he coughed loudly again and winced. "Cassidy... very real... just... n-not in this world... promised... I'd find her again..." By this point his words may have only seemed like the ramblings of someone who'd been hit over the head too hard, but even if that were the case, his determination, rather, his intense passion in regard to finding a way back to Cassidy was plain as day. It almost sounded as though he had devoted every ounce of his being to trying to find a way back to wherever she was.

"He has been to the mortal world," the Dark One said, able to smell the clinging scents of earth and open lighted sky.

"And caught a fancy?" the apprentice grinned again, "Calm down brother of shadows, you need to recover. Then I-we want to hear all about it! Pharaoh hardly calls me to the mortal realm..."

Jafar gave a small shudder as he tried to move so he could get a better look at the apprentice, though he gave up shortly after and just closed his eyes. He seemed as though he really wanted to argue that he was fine enough to find another way to the mortal world, though he was quite aware of the fact that he was far from in a healthy enough state to return there at the present time. "Okay... But I... can't stay for too long..." That answer pretty much meant he'd stay as long as he was told to, and was just putting up a stubborn front to still try and hold onto whatever shreds of dignity and ego he may have had left. That was when he realized something, "...she... has my hat..." He coughed a weak chuckle. "... Cassidy has my hat still..."

"A token to your fancy?" The girl dissolved into giggles as they approached the bronze dragon.

"Stop teasing him young one."

"Yes master!"

Jafar gave a faint sigh as he just hung limply over Dark One's shoulder. "...lack of observation... b-but... at least it's useful now... more reason f-for her to know... I'm coming back..." He then coughed again, this time spitting out a tooth that'd gotten loose during his beating. "...ow..."

Waking up proved to be a better situation then before when passing out on dragon back. Mostly because the bed was sold but soft, the blankets were thick but it was warm as well. These were just some of the things that proved it was best to be in the Pharaoh's favor before the Shadow Realm closed, now it was just as comforting, though the castle had grown and shifted shape over the centuries.

There was movement, and long strong fingers brushed at white hair, "Jafar? You need to wake to drink a potion." The Dark One said looking down at the other caster.

The darker skinned magician shifted very slightly, his eyes slowly, almost reluctantly, opening as Jafar looked up at Dark One. At first, he didn't seem as though he'd registered what was said, though after a moment he gave a small nod. "A-alright..." He didn't even seem that aware of the change in scenery.

The cup was pressed to his lips, the liquid bitter sweet and healing to any Monster, "It seems much as you are still small." the soft voice sounded amused.

Jafar drank what was given him without complaint, and only spoke after he'd finished drinking. Giving a weak smile, he said softly. "I am...?" He snorted a rather faint laugh. "That's rather interesting... I've... Probably been this small since I was with Cassidy..." Only now did he pause and notice he was in bed. "...I fell asleep?" He asked, sounding a bit confused.

An eyebrow quirked up, "You were passed out for several days my friend," Dark One said, "You did not shield yourself well on your trips, and those fiends did not aid the matter."

Jafar choked on his own breath when he heard this. Coughing and eyes now watering a bit, he blinked a few times before trying to refocus on Dark One. "Several... Days?" He repeated weakly, seeming almost as though he were starting to panic slightly. "How long does that mean in regard to Earth time?" He shifted to try and sit up, but the potion hadn't set in yet, and as such Jafar collapsed, pain shooting through him as though calling him a fool for trying to move. Gasping quietly as he lay still again, he just stared up at Dark One with obvious worry.

"Perhaps a seven day, you know our days, and our nights, are longer here." The taller caster leaned back and sat in a chair, letting Jafar learn his lessen of recovery on his own. Mostly on his own. "Even after this potion you have time yet to regain your power." An eyebrow lifted again, "So who is this lady you are fond of?"

The smaller caster winced several times as he shifted a little so he could see The Dark One a bit better. For a moment, he merely lay there and considered how to answer the question, though he finally found his voice. "A young woman named Cassidy..." He explained. "She's a... Paper witch, I think was what she called it... Small, pretty, shy... Rather amusing..." He turned his head so he was facing the ceiling again so his neck would stop hurting. "I didn't even know what she was saying for most of my time there, but she was certainly helpful all the same... Kind and patient too." His face tinted red when he remembered that Cassidy had kissed him. Even 'better', his face had gone dark enough red that Dark One could easily notice.

"You sound like you have found a master you want." The first Dark Magician was chuckling, thinking of his own little master, the host and light of the Pharaoh. His interest was clear though, as much for the wellbeing of another magician as he had never heard of a witch of that kind either.

Jafar closed his eyes as he considered this. "A master... Not quite. I saw her as more of a friend... And someone who needs protection. She was being attacked when I first met her." He gave a faint smile as he recalled peeping over the paper wall. "... Such a funny little girl she is..." He said fondly.

"A master is not just a summoned," Dark One said, having explained this to Mana several times, and a few others, "A true one is who you are connected to. Who you chose to watch over and protect outside of duels." a soft amused snort came, "I have lost track of the times my little charge has hidden in my robes while the pharaoh battles."

The smaller spell caster thought about this before a small smile tugged at his lips. "Well then... I suppose she is my chosen master then..." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I just don't know how to stay there long enough to be overly useful. I wasn't even there a whole day..." He frowned faintly as he opened his eyes again and turned his head to look at The Dark One. "...how do you do it? Make this connection, I mean..."

He considered this, Dark One's turquoise eyes lidding partly in thought, "You must touch not only magic, but the heart and mind. I know my little master's thoughts as well as the Pharaoh's, for they have that much trust in me." He looked up, "If I may suggest, a walk too this girl's dreams first? The bond of magic comes first, and your magic like mine is of shadows and darkness. A sudden bond with a mortal would do more than shock them even with warning."

Jafar gave a small nod as he thought it over. "That certainly makes sense, though... I'm not certain how to even access Cassidy's dreams. I also don't know if our magic is a compatible match. From what I could feel, hers was very different from my own." He hesitated as he inwardly feared it might be too different to be even somewhat workable, though he kept this to himself.

"I take it you did not read the books I lent you?" Dark One eyed Jafar, knowing full well one of those book copies was just on this very subject. "Jafar, all magic is magic. Light, Dark and Shadow, all as different as they are alike in interesting ways. Did you measure her magics at least?"

Jafar made an amusing 'erk' noise, his face flushing slightly red. "Ehm... I haven't got around to reading them just yet..." He admitted awkwardly. "As for measuring... I gathered that offense wasn't her strong suit. She's geared for defense, but..." He closed his eyes and tried to recall what else he's felt and figured out. Realizing he couldn't remember, he uttered a quiet curse and groaned, a frown forming as he tried and failed to recollect the information. Finally he gave up. "Drat." It's have been clear to Dark One that Jafar couldn't remember.

"And thus," The Dark One paused to let the next part sink in, "A dream walk. You can test your magics and hers."

The presently smaller magician gave a small nod, though he seemed a little flustered as he asked awkwardly. "I'm getting the feeling that information on a dream walk is in one of those unread books as well..."

"The Shadows have moved your dwelling to my castle," the taller caster pushed deep lavender bangs out of his eyes, "If you wish you can look through the Library."

Jafar sighed faintly at the response he got, but nodded all the same. "Considering the fact that whatever shred of dignity I had left from my Earth visit has left the realm, I suppose I should do that." His tone had a, _'I hope this doesn't take long,_ ' sort of tone, though going by his expression he was well aware of the fact that it probably would be longer than he was happy with.

"Heal first, then study to get it right." the Dark One stood, reaching down to touch Jafar's brow before he left, "and it might be easier if you eased your own spell of size, as we do heal best in our natural forms."

"Understood." He responded quietly, closing his eyes when The Dark One touched him. Releasing himself from his resizing spell, he sighed quietly as he grew back to his usual height. Even just judging by his expression, it was easy to see that Jafar was mentally battering himself for what he probably had labeled as careless actions. Whether The Dark One was there or not, Jafar mumbled something irritably under his breath, as though forgetting he might be heard. "Why was I stupid enough to allow my heart to lead, instead of my mind? It's cost too much valuable time..."

"Our hearts always lead, whether we like to or not." Dark One said quietly as he moved to leave, "It is how we remember our mortal life and contact with them."

Jafar opened his eyes when he heard Dark One speak. Sighing faintly, he hesitated before responding. "You have a point... I merely wish mine would let my mind remember things like the importance of reading and being ready for a fight whenever world-jumping is involved."

"Now you know," the other Dark Magician chuckled, "And perhaps now you will diligent study, at least for this as you seem to have a goal."

The slightly younger magician's face flushed slightly red again. "Perhaps. I just hope I catch on fast enough that I don't have to spend hours reading the same thing over and over again."

Quiet laugher answered him as the other spell caster stepped out, even with his high amusement he had too much controlled to let his mirth out too much. "I will send Mana in later with another potion."

Even with his embarrassment at admitting he let himself forget to study on a more serious level, Jafar couldn't help but give a faint chuckle of his own. "Alright. I'll just... well, I'll just do the only thing I can right now. Lay here try not to get into any more trouble."

The Dark One was gone by than, leaving only the subtle humm of power from the castle itself. The crackle of the fire across the room, and tiny squeak near his ear... wait what?

Jafar jumped slightly, wincing as he shakily reached up to try and find the source of the noise with his fingers. He wasn't really feeling healthy enough to move fast enough that it could damage whatever the source of the noise was, though he could probably still get a reasonable hold on whatever the squeaker was.

There was another squeak, a tiny voice smaller then a fairy. There was a flutter of paper and then an almost unfelt nip at large fingers.

Jafar blinked at that. "...what in Ra's name?" He breathed, stopping his movement not only because he didn't want to hurt whatever 'bit' him, but also because it was starting to hurt too much.

The squeaker fluttered again, against the caster's fingers, still a little tangled in his hair but the movement at least let him locate it. He waited a little while before shifting slightly and carefully untangling the squeaking little creature, his expression showing utter confusion at just what he'd discovered nestled in his hair. He hadn't really figured out quite what it was yet, after all.

There was another few light nips involved but he didn't hurt it as he pull it out. Bright yellow, the thing in his hand was a paper crane made of a post-it.

Jafar blinked a few times as he carefully moved it to where he could see it. At first, he wasn't sure how to respond, though after a little while he chuckled quietly. "Well hello there, little one." He said quietly, resting it on his blanket-covered chest and withdrawing his hand from the paper crane. "I didn't expect to see you here."

It flailed, wings beating as it repair itself from a few miss folds. Once that was done it tilted a small head up and despite being sightless giving the impression of staring in shock on the recovering caster. It squeaked, not unlike its maker had a few times.

Jafar found himself smiling a little as he watched and listened to the bird squeaking. "Yes, hello to you too." He said quietly. "I didn't know I'd have a travelling buddy when I came back."

Paper wings ruffled and folded, it hadn't meant to fallow, but had been stuck in the middle of quiet investigating. Now the crane hopped around on the blanket, seeming to look around at the flows of power and magic. Seeing nothing it knew, the yellow crane shivered in a rustle of paper before hoping over and then hiding under Jafar's hand.

The caster smiled again as he watched the crane's antics, chuckling faintly as he watched and felt it take refuge under his hand. "Don't be frightened, little one." He said quietly, though he wasn't really sure if it could understand him. "I'll make sure you get back home safely. It just might take a while."

A yellow head peeked out, squeaked and ducked back in as the feeling of a bright aura flickered near. Mana, the Dark One's student was coming sooner than expected. The recovering magician felt the aura as well, and, though sighing quietly, gave another faint smile as he closed his eyes. He only closed them for a brief moment, opening them again shortly after and turning his gaze towards the door.

There was a knock, but more as warning before a blond head poked though the opening. "Brother? Are you awake still?"

Hawk yellow eyes focused on her face, and the recovering caster gave a faint smile. "For the time being, yes." He responded quietly. "I'm quite awake at the moment."

"I have something for you," Mana came in, holding an emerald staff that was a bit bigger then she was, and had to be braced on her shoulder, "I've kept it safe- but master put a stronger protection spell on it so only those you chose can touch it- like this and mine. It should activate when you have it in hand again." With a huff, the young caster moved the staff and held it out in both hands.

The caster smiled faintly at the gesture, reaching out with his hand to try and accept it. He didn't use the hand that was hiding the paper crane, not sure how Mana would react to it. He winced as he reached out, showing that it hurt to move.

Leaning forward the girl put the heavy- to her, staff next to the man and against him so easily in reach, "Here, your first potion should be working here soon." Mana hopped onto the bed, crossing one leg over the other, she had none of her armor on, trusting the safety of the castle, "So tell me about your trip to the mortal world!"

Jafar watched her with curiosity as he closed his hand around the staff's cool surface, closing his eyes briefly as ran his fingers over the different runes carved into the weapon's material. After a moment, he opened his eyes again and looked at Mana. "Well, it was certainly an amusing experience." He responded after giving it some thought. "To be honest, I didn't really know most of what I was being told for the first three quarters of my time there. It was a fun experience though... I heard quite a few words that I've never heard of before. Words like..." He paused to think back on it a bit. "Words like 'internet'. Cassidy told me she would teach me about that later on.

Mana tilted her head thoughtfully, "I heard our little master," she touched her chest and then motioned where her teacher was, meaning the connection they both had to the mortal. "He likes it. I can hear him gigging over it."

The recovering caster smiled faintly at this. "So 'internet' is something fun. That's good to know. Though, it does make me a bit more curious about it. Oh well though, all things in their own time."

"Mah-er, Dark One likes to say that a lot." The girl stumbled over names, remembering in time that her master preferred not to use his first, mortal, name anymore.

Jafar didn't comment on Mana's stumble. Instead, he gave a very weak smile. "He probably wishes I'd actually remember that sometime instead of rushing ahead and forgetting to actually read a book once and a while."

"That is no jest- I still have bumps..." Mana reached up to rub her head.

The taller caster chuckled quietly. "So he's smacked you a few times too, I take it? I saw what he did that Phantom."

"Yeah, a few times." she nodded with a sheepish smile, "And anyone that isn't the Pharaoh or the little master that interrupts his reading gets smacked."

Jafar gave a very faint, rather awkward seeming laugh. "Ah yes... I do recall that." Going by the expression he bore, he may have been one of the unfortunate few who interrupted, though his interruption was probably by accident.

That had Mana giggling even as she ran her fingers over a spot in her hair, "You and I both. Though I do not know how the little master does it..."

A quiet chuckle escaped Jafar's lips. "Sometimes it's the smaller and cuter ones who seem to get away with the most things." He then blushed, recalling how, up until Cassidy had hugged him the first time, nobody had ever really managed to even get that close to him before. "...I know Cassidy pulled off what several people here saw to be virtually impossible."

"Your fancy?" Came the tease as the girl leaned in closer, staring intently at the man, "You do have one!" Rolling her to knees Mana shifted around until she was laying down on her front beside Jafar, at an angle where he didn't strain himself and propped her head on her palms.

It that moment, it was clear that she really didn't get out of the area around her teacher's castle very much, nor into the mortal world outside of a battle.

The caster's face turned a little darker red, but he sighed. "I like her as a friend, young one." He responded. "She merely... has a way with doing things to me that other people have never gotten close to doing." He looked Mana's expression over with faint amusement. "I would tell you more about her actions, but I have a feeling you're having more fun imagining what happened instead."

"That is fun, but I do really want to know of some of the changes, I don't see much outside of the battles I'm summoned to, and I'm not strong enough to travel like Dark One between the worlds yet." Mana pouted.

Jafar nodded slightly. "Well... there have been a great many changes... like cars. I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one... there were a few odd things in Cassidy's kitchen too, and there were odd torch posts made of solid metal, but there was no fire to keep them lit... Earth is very different than how it used to be." He paused before adding. "I think the strangest thing though was a cat named Isis. She actually had to have me explain who Ra was... quite odd, really."

"A cat that doesn't know Ra?" Mana asked, baffled, "When do they not know every god? They live in temples and tombs, and have the favor of many of the gods."

"That's what I believed, but apparently this one believes in other deities... or some other such thing. I didn't really understand it. What really shocked me though was this cat was thrown out of the shrine she dwelt in before... it doesn't make any sense at all."

The pout became a frown, "Only a fool or evil will take a temple cat away from their duty. The Mau's can see ghosts before even we Monsters can."

"This was only half Mau." Jafar responded. "I'm not sure what the other half was, but even still... I fear the world has changed far too much for possibly even Dark One to fully understand."

"I don't know about _that_ ," Mana said loyally, and then giggled, "You haven't seen his library grow since the Pharaoh has allowed him to gift the little one with a spell that copies books he touches."

The recovering caster thought that over a bit. "Well, perhaps I am mistaken then. He's probably read each one at least twice already as well." He thought this over a bit. "And he gave me access to look through the library... hm... this is making taking a look through it, to read seem even more interesting than just for studying purposes."

"Would you like me to fetch the tome on dream walking?" Mana asked, and impishly added, "To see your fancy again?" She ducked reflexively and scrambled to get out of reach.

Jafar moved a bit, wincing and coughing quietly as he relaxed himself. "You know..." He said, a faint smile on his reddening face. "I'm starting to understand why you get hit as often as you do." He didn't say it in a rude way. If anything he sounded like he was toying with her a bit.

"Someone must keep you dark ones smiling," Mana winked as she held out her hands, magicing up a tray with a warm drink and easy food, "Here, and when that potion settles you may want to finish taking off your armor, we're safe here after all."

He nodded a bit. "That sounds like a good plan... besides, it'd probably be a little more comfortable, and easier to fix. I think it may have gotten dented a little." He hesitated a moment, glancing around for somewhere that Mana could put the tray. He wasn't sure what to do with the paper crane just yet, and he wasn't sure how she'd react to seeing it.

The girl placed the try on the bed, as it was more than big enough for it and him, "I'll go track down that book than shall I?"

Jafar nodded again. "I would appreciate it if you could. Dark One may have said not to do any studying yet, but a little light reading never hurt anybody that badly."

"He always approves of reading," Mana laughed as she flicked her wrist and her own shorter staff came to life, letter her hop onto it as she left.

Once she was gone, Jafar moved his hand from overtop the paper crane, shifting a little as he looked around the room. "Surely there's somewhere else you can tuck yourself for now..." He murmured to it. By now the healing potion had started to kick in, and though he was still rather sore, he was at least able to move a bit more freely than he previously had. "The trick is finding somewhere safe..."

_Squeak!_

There was a flutter of paper wings, a few hops and the yellow crane came closer to his chest. From there it seemed to ruffle before settling on the edge of the blanket. Perfectly happy right there.

Jafar raised an eyebrow at this. "Well, if you insist on parking yourself there, be my guest. She will be coming back though." He dared to venture and move to a more upright position, only wincing slightly as he adjusted himself. He'd barely finished re-arranging himself than his stomach grumbled in protest, demanding it be fed. Jafar just gave a quiet sigh.

The paper crane flailed as he moved, tiny sounds like scolding coming from it as it flittered over to the tray, hiding behind the mug.

Jafar frowned slightly at this, shaking his head as he responded simply. "Well you shouldn't have set yourself in the way. I can't really eat if I'm lying down." He didn't really think of it yet, but it would probably look rather silly for a Dark Magician to be 'bickering' with a paper crane to anyone watching.

A little yellow head peered around the mug, gave an affronted squeak and ducked out of sight again.

The spell caster frowned a little more. "Very well then, you can be that way about it if you want, but I'll have you know I need to move that tray, so if you don't want to be shuffled around, you'd better find a new roost."

As soon as the paper crane seem to realize the tray was moving, it squeaked and took flight. Fluttering around Jafar's head a few times before landing on it.

Jafar seemed somewhat pleased with this, and proceeded to move the tray so it was balanced on his lap. "Glad you understood." He commented with a faint smile before starting to eat, careful not to jostle the paper crane around while he did so. After all, he didn't really need to move his head a great deal while satisfying his hunger.


	4. Chapter 4

It took her a few minutes to realize what scene was, and that she was dreaming. Cassidy blinked several times as she looked at the slow moving river she was beside, the grass she was sitting on knee, the tightly kelp woven basket she had in hand, as well as the 'classic' and stereotypical garb of the Native American skins like in the old movies she had on before going to sleep. Then up at the darkened sky, it was starless and moonless as she checked it, and then to see of her hair was indeed loose and flowing.

  
“...okay, this is the last time I drink tequila. Ever.” Cassidy announced to one, all and no one, “So help me if this is a frustration dream and Raven shows up to get me pregnant...“ She started, knowing full well what this scene was from stories growing up.

  
Out of Cassidy's line of sight, hidden from view at the moment, was a tall, darkly tanned man, his silver-grey hair just as it usually was, and his hawk yellow eyes taking in the scene with curiosity, though soon his gaze fell to Cassidy. He didn't make his presence known, not yet at least. For now, he merely wanted to observe. Taking note of Cassidy's present outfit, he glanced at himself as though to see what he himself was wearing.

  
"Don't make me start singing 99 bottles on the wall!" Cassidy lifted one arm, pointing at the sky uncaringly, as far as she knew she was alone in the dream, "I mean it Raven! I will if you show up! ....I really hope this isn't a frustration dream..."

  
The observer, in the meantime, blinked several times as he looked himself over. This certainly wasn't what he'd been wearing when he started this venture. Instead of being clad in his robes like usual, he found himself wearing ancient Egyptian style clothing, rendering him shirtless, though still bearing an oddly regal sort of look thanks to some of the gold jewelry he was now sporting. "...for the love of Bast..." He mumbled awkwardly, his face tinting red, though he soon turned his gaze back to Cassidy, and then looking around to see if there really was going to be someone named Raven who showed up.

  
"I see you!" Cassidy jumped up, pointing at a distant feathered, pale form of a bird in the distance, "Shoo! Shoo! I will not get pregnant by you in dream- it can relate over I know your tricks." She turned and flounced off. Of tried too. The tanned 'dress' tripped her up and Cassidy fell with an _eep_ back down onto the grass. Her bold air vanishing as she sighed.

  
The taller being couldn't help himself. Swallowing what was left of his dwindling pride, he moved closer, hesitating a moment before ending his silence by clearing his throat quietly and offering his hand to her. "Need some help?" He asked, very much thankful that the redness in his cheeks had faded by now.

 

Cassidy propped herself up on one forearm, using her other hand to lift the current of black away from her eyes to look up. She squeaked, flushing dark read, "Oh Raven, it _is_ a frustration dream." she hid back under her hair, pressing her face into the grass as much from embarrassment as since she was still on the ground. Cassidy got to find out what's under an Egyptian 'kilt.'

 

A.k.a. nothing at all.

  
Realizing just what Cassidy got a mild view of, the being backed away, his face turning rather pink. "I won't ask what you're talking about, but I would be appreciative if you kept your gaze a little more in check." He said awkwardly. "Considering that it is thought to be rude to look up a lady's skirt, I feel it might be a bit similar for a man's."

  
"You're the one who stood _there_ ," Cassidy _eep_ -ed again, still hiding behind the shield that was her hair. She was trying to get up and failing.

  
"You're the one who looked." He responded awkwardly. "...did you want help, or are you fine on your own?" He only hoped that Dark One and Mana didn't have a way to watch. He had a feeling there'd be no end of the teasing if they could see what just happened.

  
"Never, ever, ever again, no tequila." The girl was muttering, afraid to look up again just in case.

  
Eventually he just sighed, moving closer, though moving so no 'grand view' was available, and carefully picked Cassidy up, putting her on her feet again. "Dare I ask what tequila is?"

 

"Very strong drink..." Cassidy peeked out between her fingers, saw a chest and gold before her fingers spread and one chocolate brown eye peered out.

 

He raised an eyebrow as he looked her over with curiosity. "Strong enough to cause damage? That sounds unhealthy. How much did you even have?" As for the chest that Cassidy saw, it was a very well muscled one. Grade-A eye candy, to use a more entertaining term. The gold didn’t hurt either.

 

She was blushing deeply, and admitted softly, "Two shots..." she had an amazing tolerance for spicy food, and most disturbingly so. Yet only two shots and she had been flailing-giggling dunk before crawling into bed.

 

"Two... shots?" He asked curiously. "...someone shot you with something?" He then sighed. "I really don't understand what you mean. Tell you what though, let's forget that for now, unless you really want to explain it."

 

"Umm...." Cassidy looked around, paused and then facepalmed, "Right- this is a dream world. Okay. Here." She closed her hands together and then held up a small clear glass that was gold tinted

 

Jafar blinked slightly at this, but seemed rather curious all the same. "That's a shot?" He paused, thinking it over a bit. "Hm... okay... so a liquid-measure of a shot is a small amount?"

 

"Yes, go ahead and try, it should just be memory- unless you can somehow get my alcohol level by whatever is happening." Cassidy smile shyly, and so expertly used a poker face to hide that subtle trouble maker side she had. She remember perfectly the hot-spicy and burning feel of the shot going down.

 

He smiled faintly as he considered it, though after a moment he politely declined. "It's tempting, though I fear it might be a bad idea to try, if it put you out after two small samples like what you've shown me. I'd rather not experiment what happens when alcohol and magic collide."

 

"I have as a freakishly low tolerance for alcohol as I have a freakishly high tolerance to spicy food." Cassidy rolled her eyes, paused once more before eyeing the bronze skinned man and flushed, "Um... _why_ are you in my dream...?"

 

"Ah." Jafar responded, thinking over what she said before noticing she looked him over and flushed. His own cheeks went faintly pink, but he said nothing of it as he responded. "To be honest, what I'm doing is what could be called 'dream walking'. Simply put, it lets me enter your dreams. However..." He looked down at himself and ran a hand through his silver-grey hair. "It seems that I'm not in control of what I end up wearing... I'm just glad I'm wearing something."

 

Considering her frustration-dream comment earlier... Cassidy squeaked, dropped the shot glass to hide her face again.

 

Jafar blinked, seeming a bit confused. "...did I say something wrong, Cassidy?" He asked, not fully sure why Cassidy was acting the way she was.

 

The girl shook her head behind her hands, "Um, no- I'm having an awkward moment here..."

 

He gave a faint snort of amusement. "I could see that much, Cassidy... I am curious what a 'frustration dream' is. However, we needn't talk about it if you don't want to." The whole time he had been here, he had been getting a feel for what traces of Cassidy's magic were able to be felt.

 

The girl made a strangled noise, flapped her hands helplessly and then tried to scamper away. She did, for about two steps before tripping again. Taking this as a distraction she gave a tiny growl- or what might have been one before sitting back up and starting to take the restrictive dress off- confident that she would have a tank top and shorts on underneath it as it was her dream and her distraction.

 

Jafar blinked several times as he watched her. "Ehm..." He politely turned away in case there really wasn't anything on under her dress. "Let's just forget I asked that question for now."

 

"Thank you..." a tiny voice said behind him as Cassidy stood and brushed herself off, paused and brushed off the dress before folding and setting it on a nearby rock.

 

"Anything to help keep this less than freak-out worthy," He responded politely. "...it is safe for me to turn around again, yes? Or would you prefer if I didn't look in your direction for now?"

 

"Its safe, just my yoga stuff," The girl said, running a hand down the yellow top with an orca on it, and the tight but flexible black shorts kept a pink tint to her cheeks, but now she could if needed run around- and more importantly walk.

 

Jafar nodded a little as he turned. "Well then, with that over with, was there something else you wanted to do or talk about?" He paused before adding. "I've missed you, by the way... Things happened that I hadn't counted on."

 

"I missed you too, but not as much as Isis does I think," Cassidy said coming back over near Jafar, smiling despite herself. "Its okay, I know how things always get in the way of everything."

 

Jafar blinked once before giving a faint chuckle. "Well, you can tell her I'm still working on a way to return, and..." He hesitated. Dare he mention it now? His debate was obvious. Eventually though, he replied. "...there might be a way, but I'm still not fully certain if things will work in our favor. I'm still learning how the whole thing works."

 

"Our favor?" Cassidy asked, she was as much interested in his meaning as leery for that was how a paper witch survived.

 

"Ehm... simply meaning I won't be as restricted to the Shadow Realm." Jafar responded. "My wording may not have been the best there... I'm not fully sure how to explain it, to be honest. Not quite yet. I'm still working on sorting things out."

 

"Oh," The girl looked around, considering before looking back up into yellow eyes, then, "You left your hat by the way. It kind of has kittens living in it at night."

 

The dark one blinked before laughing faintly. "Well, at least it's being useful now." He responded cheerfully.

 

"Isis doesn’t' seem to want to sleep anywhere else," Cassidy giggled as she pulled her long hair over one shoulder to start to braid it.

 

He laughed faintly at that. "Well, I'm glad she enjoys it." He absently brushed some of his hair out of his face before glancing around a little, trying to remember what else he was supposed to be looking for in regard to magic and other things that would be important to know that could affect the bond situation.

 

"Sooo...." Cassidy shifted and tilted her head a little, reaching out to touch Jafar's closer arm, feeling warm skin and wondered for a moment if this was a dream for how real it felt.

 

Jafar blinked when she touched him, but smiled a little. "So... ehm..." He glanced around a bit, seeming a little awkward. "...this is a rather pretty area. The sky reminds me of home though, no stars, no sun or moon," He laughed faintly, "Ironic, really." He seemed to be struggling to find something to talk about.

 

"Its from the story of how Raven stole the sun and moon." Cassidy explained, "I used to hear it as a child for bedtime stories."

 

The dark one seemed surprised. "A tale like that is a bedtime story?" He asked. "Seems rather..." He paused to very briefly laugh at the irony. "Rather dark to be a bedtime story."

 

"Well, this is a dream, so I'll tell you." Cassidy grinned as she turned to the river and plopped down in the grass. Jafar blinked as he followed her, hesitating a moment before sitting down and looking curiously at the grass before turning his gaze to Cassidy. "As a warning, I may not be as good a story teller as Nana," The girl warned with a nervous giggle.

 

The Dark Magician laughed quietly. "Perhaps, but you don't scare me like your Nana does." He had a point.

 

" _No one_ scares people like Nana." Cassidy said very seriously.

 

He gave a small nod, grimacing a little as he recalled Nana's rather harsh gaze when she'd seen him. "I very much agree with you. A Blue Eyes White Dragon is frightening to encounter, but I'd take one of them over your grandmother in a bad mood any day."  
  
"Nana's not really all that bad." Cassidy was laughing now, wrapping her arms around her. Only to wave at the dim darkness around then, "Well, scary relatives aside, how the story goes is that when the world was young, there was only really darkness in the sky. Making it very hard for the people to find food- and there's the story about how Raven coaxed men out of a clam shell before this so the people are new to the world as much as spirits."  
  
"People out of clam shells?" Jafar repeated before chortling to himself. "Reminds me of the Red Archery Girls... Anyway, please continue." He seemed rather interested in the story already.  
  
"Old stories are always weird and funny." Cassidy grinned, "I'll tell you later. For now though, as it goes the people were in a bad way, unable to see to gather, hunt or defend against spirits on their own outside of the shell. Raven who had talked them out in the first place felt responsible in a way so he set about finding how to lighten the dark.  
  
Jafar listened to this curiously, his expression showing his interest as Cassidy told the tale.

 

"Raven followed the only light in the world and came to the lodge of the Great Spirit Chief," Cassidy slowed, confused at first at seeing a large pale bird wing by with a caw as it flew to a village that hadn’t been there a minute ago- but that was a dream for you.”

 

Jafar eyed the bird with curiosity as it flew past, but shook his head a little and returned his attention to Cassidy.

 

"He watched the Great Spirit and his people- where they all had light in their village," She continued as the bird hopped and flew un noticed by the people in the village from one spot to the next. In the light there it showed he wasn't black but brown in feather color. "But the Great Spirit wouldn't share the light with anyone else."

 

Jafar glanced at the village again, blinking several times before he looked back at Cassidy. He seemed a little confused about how the story was effecting the world around them.

 

Cassidy grinned, "When Raven found this out, he decided to steel the light, since no one should have it alone."

 

Jafar seemed quite interested in this, a faint smile twitching on his face. He seemed to approve with Raven's motive.

 

"So when everyone was asleep, Raven slipped into the Chief’s lodge," the girl continued as the Raven of the dream world ducked out of sight into the largest building. "Inside in the rafters he found bags, and thinking the light must be in there as one was glowing he started to take the bags- but someone saw Raven and he fled with only three in his beak."

 

Jafar blinked at this, though it was easy to tell his interest was definitely at its peak. He clearly wanted to know what happened after this. He also seemed to hope that Raven managed to get the rest of the light later on.

 

"In the bags he found, one had fish and the other jerky. He ate the fish and gave the jerky to the people- who learned they could dry meat." Cassidy giggled as the brown bird landed in front of them with a very large bag- almost as big as him as he tried to untie it, "The third and last bag had something else inside!"

 

Jafar blinked several times as he looked curiously at the bird, watching it with obvious curiosity as he asked Cassidy. "What did it have inside?"

 

Raven opened the bag then, and thousands of glittering lights were visible to them all, the bird giving laughing caws as he danced and hopped around his glittering shinning loot.

 

"Stars!" Cassidy giggled.

 

The dark one jumped slightly, scrambling a little as he stared in surprise. "Whoa..." He then blinked. "... how could he fit all the stars into that bag?" He inquired. He then paused before giving an awkward smile. "Sorry, I shouldn't question legends and tales. Please, continue."

 

"Raven's a spirit too," Cassidy said, "But even he can't fly with it."

 

The dark one considered this as Cassidy spoke, giving a small nod. It made sense, after all. Not even Dark One could be unbeaten, no matter how hard it seemed to pull off.

 

"But he couldn't give the stars to the people- the Great Spirit would blame them for the theft." Cassidy continued, "And the warriors of the Great Spirit's were close. So Raven took the bag and flew as high as he cool and tossed it higher, letting the bag open and scatter the stars across the sky where they stuck- and no one could take them again. Not even his older brother Eagle."

 

Jafar thought that over before smiling faintly. "Well, at least they got to where they belonged, yes?"

 

Cassidy nodded, grinning as she leaned back, and then to the side against the man as she looked up at the now star sparkling sky.

 

Jafar smiled as she did this, his own gaze turning to the sky. "You have a very interesting dream world, Cassidy... very interesting too, as it illustrates your story when you speak it... like pictures to the words of a book, almost..." He thought that over without really noticing the irony of the fact that Cassidy was a paper witch.

 

"I grew up on these stories Jafar," Cassidy reminded with a smile, "Heard them so many times that I can picture it this well- and we are in my dream."

 

"Ah... yes, that would make sense." He responded, smiling as he thought it over and absently brushing his hair out of his face. "It is easier to picture something when it is firmly embedded in your mind."

 

"Yes..." The girl looked up, watching Raven laugh and taunt the warriors from on wing as he played in the starlight. She wanted to finish the story but her head was hurting and she was so tired, "Oh... I think I found my hang over..." Cassidy muttered closing her eyes and holding her head.

 

Jafar looked worriedly at her. "Are you going to be alright?" He asked softly. "... did you want me to leave so you can get some rest?"

 

"I don't mind- I don't know if it makes a difference either." Cassidy peeked out from under her lashes, pulling her legs up and leaning a little more on the man for support. She wasn't sure about time either or if she would wake up or not.

 

He nodded a little, thinking it over a bit before responding. "If it isn't a problem, I... wouldn't mind staying in here for a little while. Mostly that's probably my own curiosity though, and if you wake up I'll be ejected anyway, so it's not like my presence will trap you in a coma."

 

"Well... I didn't know that... could have gone without knowing too." Cassidy admitted with a worried look as she opened her eyes.

 

Jafar raised an eyebrow. "You seem worried. What about this worries you?"

 

"My imagination is coming up with some scary stuff," Cassidy admitted, coving her eyes with one hand and really- really hoping that frustration dream idea didn't come back.

 

"Ah." Jafar responded. "Well, if anything overly scary shows up, I can try and deal with it if you want me to. No sense in being here if I'm not going to make myself at least somewhat useful, yes?"

 

"I'd rather have a cuddle," Cassidy paused, her eyes widen and then _eep_ -ed as she realized that she had said that aloud.

 

The dark one smiled, chuckling softly as he commented. "Well, we can do that if you want, unless it would make you feel awkward.”

 

After that, Cassidy shyly leaned more against the taller caster. Jafar smiled, shifting a little and gently wrapping his arm around her. His expression showed that he was rather happy he was able to do this for Cassidy. He may have even liked it, considering he probably didn't get to cuddle people that often.

 

That and most people he might know weren't the cuddle types. Mana maybe but others either had the 'do not touch' air or were spiky the wrong way. The human paper witch though... was neither, she willingly turned and snuggled close against Jafar's side.

 

He smiled even more as Cassidy did that, closing his eyes and sighing contentedly and enjoying the small shivers rippling down his spine due to his skin being touched instead of it being his robe or armor. Yes, this was definitely a feeling he enjoyed, though he didn't dare tell Mana that he was cuddling Cassidy; he'd hear no end of it otherwise.


	5. Chapter 5

Cassidy paused before backtracking to look at the display of cards and packets of the same. Most of the display was taken up by one game that had the paper witch tilting her head before walking closer. Knowing full well her companion would just keep on walking and talking without noticing that she'd stopped. Cassidy reached out to take one of the smaller packs, labeled as a 'Magic Mystery!' starter with a picture of three black hats on the front.

Her companion blinked when he actually noticed she'd paused, turning and looking curiously at her. "Eh? 'Sup Cass?"

"Do you know anything about this game?" The girl asked holding up the starter pack.

"Duel Monsters?" He asked. "Yeah." The young man pulled a deck out of his pocket and showed it to her. "I got into it because of some of my friends who are still in school. It's pretty fun. Why?"

"I heard it mentioned, was just wondering about it." Cassidy said shrugging, "Do you like it? What do you do?"

"Yeah, it's fun." He pulled one of the cards out of his deck, showing her the Blue Eyes White Dragon. "This is one of my favorites. Basically what you do is you fight other players." He pointed out the attack and defense points. "Higher attack points defeat lower attack points, etc, the difference is dealt to the duelist's life points. Last one standing wins. It's fun if you like strategy games."

"Will you show me how to play at least Simon?" Cassidy asked as she walked back over to him. "To see if I like it?"

Simon smiled cheerfully. "Sure! Do you have enough cards for a deck though?"

"How many do you need?" Cassidy looked down at the starter pack, from her action it seemed like what she was holding would be it.

"Well, you need at least forty, to be honest." Simon grimaced a little.

"At _least_?" The paper witch echoed, baffled, looked down at the back that had a number '15' on it.

"Yeah..." Simon replied with a small sigh. "Hm... how are we going to work this one out? I can take a random fifteen cards out of my deck if you want, but that might not work very well..."

"Does it have to be perfect just to show and explain?" Cassidy smiled as she pointed this out sensibly.

"Hm... nah, probably not." He responded with a small grin. "Alright, let's show you how its done, eh?"

Cassidy held up the pack, "I'll just get this for now." She put it in the hand basic that Simon had been made to carry in the store, "Do you still want lunch?"

Simon smiled a little. "I'm up for food if you are." He then laughed. "Then again, I'm always hungry." He grinned as though proud. "Some of my friends said I've got the appetite of a dragon."

"I really should get you to meet one, one of these days." Cassidy said thoughtfully, but then she always said things like that. "Come on, I need a few more things for my next spell and potion." She added, knowing the teasing that would follow that admission.

The young man grinned as he hurried after her. "Yeah, no worries." He commented, putting his deck away and running a hand through his bleach blond hair, which he'd dyed icy blue like his eyes. "Just lead the way, and I'll follow."

"I still haven't forgotten the headache one you asked for," Cassidy assured, "Still think you should see your doctor, I can't do much healing myself."

Simon shrugged a bit. "Eh, don't worry 'bout it. I'm just happy to be able to help you out with Duel Monsters. Trust me; it's a really fun game when you get into it."

"If I like it I might make you buy me a few more of the starter packs." Cassidy teased and warned, grinning up at the man, paused and giggled again, "You missed a spot with the die."

He grinned and winked at her. "Sounds like a party, Cass. I'll buy you all the cards you want if it helps you." He then blinked and started to laugh. "Aw geez... ah well. Can't always be perfect, right?" He wasn't really cocky, even if he sometimes sounded like it. Most of the time he was just goofing around.

He still had Cassidy blushing as they gathered the rest of any needed things. Once they got their coffee and lunch and found a place to sit- out of the rain, did Cassidy pulled out her starter pack.

"So...are these packs all the same or random like the Pokémon cars?" She asked.

"They're random." Simon replied with a small smile. "That's part of the fun, really; you never know what you're going to get in each pack. You could get something like a Kuriboh, or something as amazing as a... a... a Dark Magician."

"That's not the first time I've heard that name," Cassidy commented as she used her teeth to tare the packaging of the starter pack.

"Oh?" Simon asked before chuckling quietly. "Well I'm not overly surprised I suppose. Dark Magicians are rare, and really good to have."

The girl debated something before shaking her head and letting it slide. Very few people believed in magic nowadays after all, "I'll bet," the paper witch grinned, "Magic's always good to have." Cassidy teased him for all the teases he gave about her belief in magic.

Simon laughed. "I'm sure it is. Me though? I'm happy to rely on my charming good looks." Going by his tone and cheeky grin, he was being his usual goofball self.

Cassidy counted the cards out, face down, to be sure there was all 15. She had a thing for cards being face down at first. Then she flipped over the top card and giggled, "Just like on the package!" She showed Simon the card with three hats on it.

The blue haired young man grinned. "Awesome! That can be a fun card to use, from what I know 'bout it." While he spoke, he was absently shuffling his own deck. He was probably fidgety; he usually got that way when he was excited about surprises like new game cards.

The hat card was set down and another flipped over, Cassidy offered it, "What's this one?"

Simon accepted the card and looked it over before blinking. "Interesting." He commented before reading the name and the effect. "Dark Magic Attack. It says 'If you control a face up 'Dark Magician', destroy all spell and trap cards your opponent controls'. ...wow, that seems like a handy one to have if you get a Dark Magician." He then smiled and handed the card back.

"How rare is one of the Dark Magician cards anyways?" Cassidy asked as she pulled up card with an adorable fuzzy brown... thing. She giggled thinking of Claws after a bath and his favorite thing, a blow drier treatment.

"As far as I know, they're pretty rare." Simon responded thoughtfully. "As in, I don't really know more than one or two people who might have one, and even then I'm not sure if they actually have one or not."

"Huh." Another card was flipped up, showing the same group of hats in different colors.

Simon nodded a little. "Yeah... they're not common cards. More common than a Blue Eyes, but still tricky to get a hold of."

"That was what was fun about the Pokémon card-packs, you never knew what you'd get." The girl pointed out and reminded, smiling at the crystal thing on the next card.

The pale young man nodded cheerily again as he grinned. "Yep. Never knew if you were getting a Magikarp or a Moltres. Ah, the fun of chance games, eh?"

"Always liked the eveeves the best." Cassidy muttered, paused and stared at the next card for a very long time before bursting out laughing as the card was held close. This wasn't like the normally very quiet girl, and whatever she pulled seemed doubly funny to her.

Simon smiled before blinking at her outburst. "Uh... did I say something stupid, or is the card in your hands hilarious?" He asked curiously.

Something like, "Ja-Jafar- its him!" came out from between the giggles as Cassidy didn't let him see the card right away.

Now the boy seemed even more confused and bewildered. "Jafar?" He repeated. "You mean that creepy vizier on that old Disney movie? I didn't know they put him in Duel Monsters."

"No, its said 'Jar-far' ...at least that's how it sounded with the accent." Cassidy gasped for air then had to drink some of her chai tea. "You remember a few weeks ago, when I told you about the spirit I met? When I told you about Isis being found?"

Simon thought a while before blinking. "Wait, you mean... but... no way. No freaking way!" His jaw had dropped by this point. "That spirit was... was a... but I thought Duel Monsters was just a game!" He now looked extremely curious about the card Cassidy was holding. "Can I see? Please? I really want to see what this guy was."

"It even doesn't have his hat on!" Cassidy all but pushed the card into her friend's face as she came down with another giggle fit.

He raised an eyebrow as he leaned back a bit and stared at the card before blinking before bursting out laughing. "Oh you have got to be kidding me! Are you serious!?" He didn't know if he should be laughing or sitting there and twitching out of shock. There on the card in front of him was, sure enough, a Dark Magician. One in red robes, with grey-silver hair, yellow eyes, and what seemed almost like a faint, slightly awkward seeming smile twitching at his lips. And, sure enough, he had no hat.

Simon looked at Cassidy again and grinned. "So this Jafar guy, he didn't have a hat? Kind of trippy that you'd get a card that looked like him, no hat and all."

"He did have a hat, but left it behind when Jafar was called back to his realm." Cassidy rolled her eyes, "I told you that before, Isis sleeps in it now with her kittens on my bed."

"Oh... right." Simon said awkwardly, his face flushing slightly red. "Wow... okay, just wow." He just shook his head a bit before laughing a little more. "Talk about freaky coincidences, eh? I mean, I've never even heard of a Dark Magician card that didn't have the Monster wearing a hat. It's like a trademark item of theirs or something."

"I'm calling this... Mini-Jar!" Cassidy gasped, and fell into giggles again.

The pale one just laughed as he grinned at Cassidy. "You have got to be the luckiest Duelist around, Cass, and you don't even have a full deck yet. Man, I know several people who would be so jealous of you because of your-" he cut himself off with a chuckle. "Mini-Jar."

...aaaand there was some more giggles. Cassidy looked about ready to fall over from the lack of air as Simon played along with her naming.

"I don't...heheh, think you can call me a duelist really, I've never played." Cassidy finally got out when she could breathe and talk at the same time again

Simon waggled his finger as he grinned. "Not yet you haven't. I'm gonna teach you, remember? Then you and Mini-Jar are gonna cream everyone who dares to challenge your almighty power!" He threw his hands in the air comically as he said this, though thankfully he'd set his deck down before doing so. "You will forever be remembered as the world's most epic Duelist!"

Cassidy was blushing now, "I think I should find a coven first. Still haven't found any luck with that... maybe Mini-Jar will help. After you explain some more."

The pale young man gave a thumbs up before resting his hands behind his head and grinning. "Hey, if the bigger version helped you out as much as you say he did, then Mini-Jar's gotta be lucky, right?"

"Yeah... heh, mini." Cassidy hugged the card close, pretty sure something magic based had happened. But the card was also real, from the package and possibly rare in and of itself with no hat. She was going keep it not for that reason but it really did look like the older caster. "I wish you'd let me show you some magic some time Simon. Or at least the hat."

Simon gave a faint smile. "Well hey, if you would've said before that Jafar was a Dark Magician, I'd have been more than happy to see the hat before this... considering the situation and what all you've told me, I think I'm kinda ready to see a bit of magic... nothing too grand, okay? I'm still a little nervous about the whole thing."

Cassidy propped her chin in one hand, giving her friend a look and said dryly, "I'm a paper witch. There's nothing grand or flashy about that."

"You'd be surprised what people can do with paper." He responded with a small shrug as he returned his hands to shuffling his cards. "I mean, can you imagine the sort of damage you could do to someone if you got them caught in a flurry of paper shreds? Paper cut central! That'd sting like crazy."

"That only works with smooth edges, or its like a dull knife." Cassidy explained as she reached into her bag and pulled out a blank printer paper, holding it out for Simon to look over to see it was normal. She'd done card tricks before and this seemed like it.

Simon thought that over a bit, frowning slightly as he looked at the page Cassidy had gotten out to show him. "Hm... well, there's bound to be other ways you can do stuff with paper, right?"

"Paper Witches don't have offensive abilities. Not really." Cassidy pointed out, "The only things I can do are arrows- like paper airplanes- and my cranes." She held out her hand to take the paper back, and put her new cards into the inside shirt pocket. She blinked as she felt a small pulse of magic like a heartbeat, but not her magic.

Simon, oblivious to this new phenomenon, thought it over before shrugging. "Hey, those are still helpful though. Besides, one thing that Duel Monsters taught me is that the heavy hitter isn't always the most important. The support players are just as important in success.

"Put me in a library and I can find any book in less than two minutes." Cassidy grinned as she took the paper back and started folding it. She was so good at this now she didn't have to really look.

Simon grinned. "And that's something that can be really handy. It saves time trying to hunt through shelf after shelf and hoping you're in the right area. Definitely a perk that's a good one to have."

"Its not that bad finding things."

Simon blinked before laughing and shaking his head. "Am not. You've never seen me get lost in a library have you? It takes all of two minutes."

"Yes, because you go for the interesting looking book binders not the titles or authors." Cassidy arched and eyebrow in as close to a snark as she ever got.

Simon gave a weak splutter. "H-hey, I'm working on that part." He said awkwardly, his face flushing red.

"Here," Cassidy held out the paper crane to Simon on her open palms. "Here, just watch out, its big enough to nip."

Simon blinked, but nodded as he carefully held his hands out, his expression showing curiosity and interest. She set it on his hands, and beamed proudly as a churr came from the crane. White paper wings rustled and a little head peered up at the young man's face. Simon jumped slightly, blinking several times before giving an amazed looking grin. "Wow..."

"Remember that post-it incident a few months ago?" Cassidy winced, looking at the paper crane. "These guys somehow breed with unattended paper..."

Simon grimaced a bit. "I vaguely remember that. Something about the post-it notes going crane-y?"

"My hang over the next day was from de-charming all of those paper cranes... all three hundred and sixty five of them." The girl sighed, remembering the night spent in the library running around after mini-cranes with her fellow librarian.

Simon choked quietly. "Oh yeah... I remember that... Ehm... How often does that happen, exactly?"

"I'll call you next time." Cassidy said in a way that suggested that the call might come in a few days or week from now.

Simon swallowed quietly. "Oh... That's how often." He then got a nervous look in his eyes. "They won't attack your Duel Monster cards... Will they?"

"They like blank paper." Cassidy assured shaking her head, "And flexible." She added as the crane peered over Simon's hands and then hopped from one side to the other.

Simon nodded a little at that. "Alright. That's a relief." He smiled a bit as he looked back at the crane. "Kind of cute, aren't they?"

"They are, until one-"

_Scree!_

"-nips." Cassidy winced, and then reached over to catch the crane, frowning at it, "No giving paper cuts! Simon, are you okay?"

Simon inhaled sharply, but gave a weak smile as he sucked where the paper cut was on his finger, and then gave a small nod. "I'm fine. Just wasn't expecting it to bite me, that's all. I guess it didn't like what I said, eh?"

"They're all odd." Cassidy sighed, having never figured her own creations out fully after all these years.

Simon laughed faintly. "Well, it certainly makes for interesting events to happen, yes? I mean, to be honest, I never expected to see something quite this... this... down-right mind boggling, before. I believed you when you talked about them, of course, but I guess I never fully realized how real it was til now."

"Most people in general won't see magic even if they run against it." Cassidy explained, holding her wiggling paper crane by the wings. "This? This isn't very big and you're used to my magic tricks. If you meet a spirit you'll either not see it, or see a filter of what's there."

Simon blinked several times before glancing over his shoulder as though checking for someone to be there. "That's... actually kind of a scary thought when you put it that way... and a tiny bit creepy..."

"Average people in general lost the abilities, the Sight, to see magic without some training." Cassidy smiled, chuckling, "I'm pretty sure you can see little low level stuff now, since you'll be looking for them Simon."

Simon looked back at Cassidy. "Yeah... maybe I'll have to look into this sight training stuff... I kinda feel weirded out now that I know there's people I can't see, who could very well be watching me."

"There isn't exactly a class at the community center," Cassidy giggled, stuffing the crane into a pocket before pulling her braid around over one shoulder. "Around our region its like... home school or a study group."

Simon laughed faintly. "Well I knew that." He responded. "Maybe I should've worded that differently... um... how does one go about training themself for that anyway?"

"I could show you some things," Cassidy offered after a moment's thought, slowly though, "But sometimes it is better not knowing... well, not better but would make you feel better. Once you get into the magical world Simon, there's no turning back in a good way."

Simon grimaced a little. "Okay." He hesitated a bit before sighing. "I don't know... I guess I should think on it a bit more before I rush into things. We know how I tend to get into trouble without seeing it until it's too late."

"And I don't exactly have a coven to protect me." The girl gave a more watery smile as she ran her fingers over her braid, over the feathers and other odd little things woven into it. She gave a small, "Aha," and pulled out a squeaking, bright pink mini post-it crane and offered it to her friend.

Simon blinked at this, laughing very faintly as he accepted the crane. "D'aww... so cute!" He said cheerily. "As for your coven situation, I'm sure there's a way to change that. It might take a while, but hey, good things to those who wait, yes?"

"That's the thing," the paper witch sighed as she leaned forward to rest her chin on folded arms, "Nana's protection only goes so far, and I have to be on the property, where my dad's vet clinic is. If my luck keeps up at this rate, I'll be a victim-witch like on the 'Charm' show."

"...Charm show?" Simon inquired. "And... isn't there a way to help you out with the protection thing? Maybe your magician friend can help... if he knows how to get back here." It was pretty easy to know who Simon was referring to; Jafar.

Cassidy hid her face in her arms, "I don't know how his magic really works, or even how to summon him Simon. Our magics were so different that he kept me awake enough to drive Kar when I should have passed out in the street."

Simon blinked at that. "Wow... that's quite a difference... hm... is there any way to talk to him at all? Maybe he can help you figure it out?"

"I'm waiting on an email that may have some information." Cassidy admitted as she lifted her head.

"Oh?" Simon asked curiously. "Mind my asking who its from? Or would I not know who it was anyway?"

"An older archaeologist named Solomon Motou...or Motou Solomon depending on the cultural point of view... I saw a paper of his that mentioned an Egyptian legend on... um, well were Jafar might be from." Cassidy tried to explain.

"Oh?" Simon asked, now sounding quite curious. "Cool. I hope he can help you with this."

"Might take a while," Cassidy sighed, "Even with internet there's the sucky thing called time zones in the way."

"Yeah, that is true..." Simon responded, thinking it over a bit and grimacing a little. "So, this Solomon Motou guy... judging by his last name he's Japanese, right?"

"Yep, though he's been around the world more than a few times." the paper witch sat back up, "He might even have been a tomb robber way back in the day. But he's pretty nice and helps out students or other people working on papers... I kinda fibbed and said I was a student." Even though she was one of the record holders for getting her education among her few friends.

"Well, technically you are a student." Simon commented with a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. "Considering that you're trying to learn more about this mystical mojo that Jafar's got going on. Anyone who's trying to learn can be considered a student... that's how I understood it anyway."

"Magical education still going, and you just starting." Cassidy giggled again, liking that idea. "You should write down what you see by the way, helps with the sanity bit."

Simon nodded cheerfully. "See? We're both students in different ways." He then nodded again. "Sounds like a plan. I'll have to get a book to write it down in so I make sure I've got things in order. Some of my other friends still say I'm a bit loopy in the head for other reasons."

Cassidy reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a collage note book, offering it as well as showing one of her own that was dated three weeks ago when started. "Here, I found these work best since you can get them on sale."

Simon gave a nod as he looked it over. "Alright. I'll find one of those the next time I'm in an office supply store." He gave a sheepish grin. "I'll make a note to actually go in one sometime soon too."

"Welcome to my world." The girl giggled, "Now you understand why I'm always carrying some kind of paper?"

Simon blinked. "Wait, you mean you forget to go in those stores? I never expected that one, Cass. You're always ready for some sort of paper-requiring thing."

"Simon?" Cassidy asked calmly, pointing at her bag, "Paper witch, I need paper on hand all the time."

Simon blinked a few times. "...okay, I guess I really just had a brain skip of the century." He said awkwardly. "My bad." He laughed a little. "My head's more geared towards card games and other things that aren't papery."

The girl reached over and patted the arm of her friend, "There's time to save you yet." Cassidy reassured, then dissolved into giggles.

Simon laughed. "I sincerely hope so, because at the rate I'm going, I'm doomed." He responded, trying to make her laugh even more.

"You're horrible!" Cassidy finally got out, taking a deep breath.

"At remembering to get paper stuff? Heck yeah. I thought you knew that by now." He commented with a cheeky grin, knowing full well what she'd meant.

The girl shook her head, sighing, "Finish your coffee and lunch."

He grinned as he nodded. "Alright, alright. But you've gotta admit I'm a pro at being a jester." He took a sip of his coffee after saying this.

"Just don't say that around one of Raven's children," Cassidy warned, but was smiling again. She looked around and then back, "I'm not working tonight so, want to come over and do the halo thing? Or are you working?"

Simon shook his head as he smiled. "I'm free tonight. Halo sounds like a riot." He chuckled happily. "Besides, even if we weren't going to play Halo, I'll get to see that hat you were talking about."

"It is taken over by a holy mother cat that thinks its her own personal temple." Cassidy warned.

"Oh boy."

"What? You don't want to ogle my new kittens?" Cassidy put a hand on her heart to show her hurt, "And here I thought I was getting vibes from you of wanting a cat!"

Simon laughed. "Hey, I might play with them after their mother is done with the 'tear your face off if you're too close' mode. I've seen mother cats before when they've got new kittens; I'm not gonna risk ticking Isis off if I can help it."

"Isis isn't that bad!" Cassidy exclaimed, and would have tossed her hands up if they hadn't have her lunch.

Simon gave an awkward smile. "Sorry, I'm just going off what I know from other mother cats I've seen. I meant no offense." He finished his lunch before adding. "The last mom cat I had to deal with tried slashing me to ribbons, and it wasn't even my fault she needed help."

"Its a halo-date then." Cassidy shook her head before finally taking a true bite of her food.

Simon smiled as he nodded. "Sounds like a great plan to me. Just be aware that I'm likely to get my butt handed to me again." He grinned before finishing what was left of his coffee.

"Simon-DOWN!" Cassidy screamed, and despite being a head and half shorter at least, the girl tackled her friend down to the earth of the park. Instincts had taken over as she sensed the spike of magic, and knowing that Simon's own other sense was... not there at all, she was the only thing keeping him from suddenly missing an arm. The next action was to try and haul the young man up and run like hell away from the caster that aimed the destructive spell.

The pale young man scrambled to his feet as Cassidy tried to pull him up, his expression showing full-well that he wasn't having fun with the present situation. "Okay, this wasn't quite what I thought we'd be doing, but it's certainly an adrenaline-generator!" He stumbled slightly, but managed to get himself steadied before falling flat on his face. "S-so what kind of magic is that exactly?!"

"Bad!" Cassidy all but squealed, one hand locked around Simon's as she led the mad dash, scramble, jerking to the right to avoid another pulsing blast. "Hurry-hurry! I don't want our blood being a sacrifice!" She reached up to grab at one of her pendants but her fingers curled around the cards in the inner shirt pocket. They had a pulse of magic too, but dare she try and tape them?

Simon yelped as the second spell hurtled past. "I kinda figured out the bad part of it when the magic started being thrown around." He said awkwardly. "B-but what are we going to do about stopping whoever this whack-job is before they get the better of us?!"

"We run as much as we- fragging pit-spawn!" Cassidy cursed as they busted into the open park. Thankfully she couldn't see anyone else, but the two were now in the wide open and that... was bad.

Letting go of Simon's hand Cassidy hitched up her skirt more so she could slow without tripping and spun around so fast that the hem of her skirt twirled around her. The paper witch was already pulling out a handful of blank papers. " _Shield!_ " Cassidy yelled in the Old Words as she threw the handful in the air, feeling her magic surge and catch the paper before snapping the sheets into an overlapping wall between them and the hostile caster.

"Always, _always_ picking on minor casters and people!" The girl gritted out as she patted her person down for something to help, and came up with the Duel Monster Cards, "Umm. Umm..." She pulled one out at random and poured her magic into the card and felt... shadows react.

Simon, on the other hand, fell flat on his face, though he quickly picked himself up and moved closer to Cassidy... just in time for them to end up magically poked under a massive hat. Simon choked quietly, looking around with confusion and alarm. "O-okay, wh-wh-what just happened, and why are we surrounded in nothing but pitch black?"

As for what the other caster would've seen, they would've been surprised to find that four massive black top hats had just formed up, underneath one of which their quarry was hiding. Nothing seemed too big about them though other than the size. They were just... there.

"What the hell?" He grunted, and then thrust his right hand, imbedded in his palm was a red stone that pulsed with magic power before firing out. It hit the paper shield, and though it shredded it also deflected the attack to hit one of the... hats. That vibrated and then dissolved.

Interesting.

"This is different," Cassidy admitted in the dark, fumbling with her bag to get search for her pen light. But a soft glow came from above, and craning her head back to fact, this new thing, the first thing that came out of her- and Cassidy blamed the stress was, "Aaawwww!"

"Cuooo!" The little mini brown fuzzy... puff ball cooed back to the humans from its spot hovering near the top, holding a glowing light spell.

Simon just about had heart failure, but stopped himself from letting out a yell of shock. "Th-that's a... that's a real... but... oh geez... that's... but..." He sat down, shaking his head to try and shake the dizziness off. This was all just too overwhelming to him at the moment.

Three hats remained now, and under one of them were the two humans.

Meanwhile, under one of the three hats, a very confused Dark Magician tapped his staff with his finger, the orb nestled on the top starting to glow faintly as he glanced around. "... well this is a new development."

"Caoo?" The mini Kuriboh above Jafar asked, lowering to perch on his shoulder guard and holding out the light with its forepaws, and gripping a ridge in the red armor with the hind paws.

Jafar blinked as he looked up, smiling a little as he looked at the mini Kuriboh. "Ah, thank you." He said softly before looking around. "...I see I'm in a hat."

"Kuuu!" The little brown-gold fluffy monster motioned to the right, its small amount of magic letting the much larger caster 'see' that another hat was filled.

Jafar blinked as he looked over at the other hat, his expression turning incredibly understanding now. "Ah... well then... that certainly makes things understandable."

In that other hat, Cassidy was attempting to help pry off the other Kuriboh off Simon's head, where it clung to his hair. Coaxing it on one breath and on the other thinking aloud and trying to come up with an idea as she coaxed her friend to tell her about the magic card.

Simon, in the meantime, swallowed as he explained. "Magic hats... they hide one card, a-and can hide others... the person has to pick a hat to reveal... th-they get whatever's under it, basically... even if it's a trap that hurts them..."

"Trap?" Cassidy latched onto the key word, and let go of the mini Kuriboh to pull out her 15 cars, flipping through them and 'propping' them up with her magic in the air, "Like what? Simon pay attention- leave the fuzzy alone and _help_. I can feel another caster, or two more even with the buffer around us."

Simon shivered a little to focus on what was being said. "Traps l-like other monsters, cards th-that cause damage to your opponent's life points... s-stuff like that..."

"Show me." Cassidy ordered, looking up from staring a moment at the Dark Magician card that seemed somehow alive. Like one of the hat-cards. "Simon this is magic, I have to see what I need to do, and I don't have time to origami enough cranes to do any sort of damage, nor can I breed them from this one." She held up her braid where one little post-it-note crane clung in her hair.

Simon shivered a little as he looked at the cards. "S-so, i-if you chose... th-that one," he indicated a particular trap card. "Th-that'll cause damage t-to our enemy i-if whoever it is ch-chooses that hat... i-if they chooses our hat, th-they get a free shot at us..." He looked at the Dark Magician card. "...wh-why does it sort of feel like it's watching me?"

"Magic. He might be." Cassidy hesitated, considered and pulled out Simon's deck, "You said something can help monsters right? Hurry, pick one," She pressed the deck into his hands before extending her magic again to push the card he pointed to, to life. For a lack of a better term, as she focused... and then felt the same twang of energy that happened before.

Simon nodded, shivering as he looked through his cards, scrambling to find one that could help them. "Um... um... th-this one might help?" He pulled out 'Hidden Book of Spell', a card that boosted a spell caster's power by 500 points. "O-or were you meaning a different sort of card? S-sorry, I'm just having a lot of trouble sorting out what's going on right now and... oh I'll just shut up..."

" _Don't_ try and sort it out right now!" Cassidy yelled to get the point across, "Never stop to think with magic if you're not thinking of spells, more so for you, being non-magical. Just accept and roll with the flow. _Later_ you can spazz Simon." She almost snatched the offered card, in her element and stressed, Cassidy was not a shy little push over wall flower. "Mini Jar- I mean Jafar! Will this help?" she asked the card in the air and waved the Hidden Book of Spells in front of it.

Simon flinched when Cassidy yelled at him, but stayed quiet as he sat there on the floor, ground, whatever the black substance underneath them was.

The spell card lit up, seemingly, the book seeming almost to glitter as the Dark Magician on the card seemed almost to smile a little more, though it easily could be passed off as a trick of the light.

Jafar blinked as a book appeared in his empty hand, his expression turning faintly amused as he flipped it open. "Well, this will definitely be useful to have... Now all I have to do is wait for my hat to get picked."

Another explosion and Cassidy flinched as it rippled and caught against her energy field. She was steadily getting paler in a different way from Simon. The paper witch was afraid but not as much, this seemed to be a different kind of stress as she leaned against the floating cards, that stayed in place like they were on solid stones instead of just stiff paper cards in mind air that should bend at least, yet didn't.

Simon flinched at the explosion, shivering as he shakily forced himself to his feet. By now he was shuffling his cards nervously, but he didn't say a word.

Cassidy stood up, her aura glowing softly as she followed with her other sense the two human casters aiming... not at them but the other remaining hat. She flinched as it was destroyed and dissolved... and her eyes popped open, "Jafar! That's his aura- oh dear he's rather...mad..."

Simon swallowed quietly at this news. "I can't imagine this is going to end well for whoever's out there... Kinda happy we can't see now."

As for the contents of the other hat, Jafar was definitely far from impressed. Standing his full height and already having an attack prepared, he unleashed a spell that was nothing short of devastating, sending it hurtling towards the two humans like an orb of super-charged, hell-spawned fury.

Oooh yes, this was not going to end well...

Cassidy held her hands over her ears to block out the screams, focusing on counting aloud and just on the numbers. Though part of her mind worried over her friend, Simon had never seen or was aware of someone dying near. It was a hazard that magic users dealt with more than the average civilians. She really was going to have to do a lot of cuddling... or maybe not? The little brown fuzzball was snuggling against the boy's neck and cooing to him in its odd way.

Simon just about died. He flinched so violently that in his already disoriented state, he fell over, his face as white as snow and his whole frame trembling violently. He'd heard screaming before, but never, even in all his years as a fireman, had he ever heard someone scream like that before. Terror gripped him like a python as he sat there, unable to move. This really wasn't a good reaction...

Cassidy dropped to her knees beside him pushing the young man's head down to his knees. "Breath Simon. In and out. In and out." She said, and despite her own shakiness her voice was calm and rich as she worked a calming and healing spell in her mind, feeling it transfer from her hands to his shoulders. "I've seen that spell before, what it would have done to us. Breath in and out."

The two sorcerers got what they deserved, hunting for innocents for the clean blood to turn black.

Simon's frame was nearly rigid as Cassidy moved him, his breathing rapid and shaky as he tried to get the echoing sound of the screaming out of his head. He tried to speak, but found his voice was going to fail him, as all that came forth from him was raspy inhales and exhales. He seemed almost as though he were going into some sort of shock. Then again, this would've been a terrifying way to encounter magic of any kind for the first time. One could only hope he'd be able to shake this off soon.

Her control on keeping the cards up hiccupped before letting them fall as the young woman worked to be soothing in voice and the healing spell that should start to take effect. She didn't push him to talk, in fact encourage Simon not to until he felt calmer. Cassidy also worried that she just very well may loose one of her best friends after this day.

As Cassidy's spell began to affect him, Simon actually began to cry. It would have been a strange thing to see him do, as he so often appeared to be collected, bold, and even unshakable, but now he was just sitting there, shivering and letting tears slide down his face. Finally, he found his voice. "R-remind me... T-to never... T-tick o-off y-your D-Dark Magician..." He sounded dazed, as though he were only half consciously there.

"I don't know if he's 'mine.'" Cassidy whispered as she hugged Simon tightly. The paper witch poured as much energy as she could into the healing spell. Swallowing she admitted, "I won't lie and say it gets better, but you will understand what happened, really understand." She looked up at a croon.

"Cauuu?" the little mini-monster asked, snuggling as well with Simon.

The young man just gave a shaky nod before he closed his eyes and subconsciously leaned lightly against Cassidy, tears still streaming down his face as he murmured weakly, giving a hollow and faint laugh. "Heh... K-Kuriboh's... K-kind of soft..." He ended up passing out shortly afterwards.

Not long after, a side of the hat disintegrated, revealing a now six foot tall Jafar, hatless and looking incredibly concerned. He didn't speak, but his expression showed plainly that he wanted to know if Cassidy and Simon were alright, or at least going to be.

"Hi," Cassidy said, her voice a mix of sheepishness, stress, fear and... relief that came when she saw the monster. "Did you do this?" Her eyes flicked to what was left of the concealing hat, and looking about ready to fall over onto Simon to pass out as well.

The monster sighed faintly as he moved a bit closer and knelt down, now within arm's reach of the two humans. "No." He replied quietly. "You did. I came because you summoned me... Are you unhurt? What of your friend?"

"Shock," Cassidy looked down, "He didn't know about magic until today." She looked up, hesitated and then tears form for her now, "Jafar?"

The magician gave a faint nod of understanding, briefly looking Simon's limp frame over before returning his gaze to Cassidy. "Yes?" He asked softly, his yellow eyes still holding concern.

Her tears where over flowing now as she turned her face up to the caster, "Can I have a hug?" She'd nearly died too after all.

"Of course."

Cassidy clutched against his red robes and armor, though kept one foot in contact at least with Simon. She blinked at the mini Kuriboh still clinging to Jafar, but after a moment hid against him.

Jafar carefully shifted, gently rubbing Cassidy's back with one of his hands as he held her, unphased by the fact she was probably getting his robe wet, uncaring that he may have been seen as weak in the eyes of other Dark Magicians for cuddling and comforting a human. Jafar didn't care about any of it; all he cared about was Cassidy and providing the comfort she needed.

After getting her sobs under control, Cassidy was able to breathe again. She curled up fully in Jafar's lap now, feeling Simon was out enough to do so and wanting to be as close as she could to this Monster that seemed anything but one. "Are we safe here- is there a charm or...should we go home?" How to get home? Simon and her hadn't gone for a long walk after a long bout of gaming.

"You are safe here." Jafar replied softly, letting her shift before gently wrapping his arms around her again, almost in the same way a father would for their own child. "Anyone stupid enough to try for a 'round two' would deserve what they got for their ill-meaning efforts." He still sounded gentle, but there was an undertone that showed he would have no qualms with attacking anyone or anything else that dared to try and harm Cassidy and Simon.

"Big hats attract attention." Cassidy point out, eyes half lidded as she struggled to stay awake. "I can't teleport..."

"Well, big hats are removable." He replied quietly. "And I can't teleport either, but I'm sure there's something I can pull together to get you and your friend somewhere safer if you desire it to be so."

The paper witch didn't have to consider long at all, "I want to go home." She said, and at the same time tighten her grip on Jafar in a silent plea for him not to go anywhere.

The magician nodded slightly, holding her closer as he moved one of his hands to sift through Simon's fallen cards. "Hm... Perhaps your friend has something we can use to get there faster." So far he hadn't found anything that could be used, but all the same it was worth a shot to check.

"I don't think I can put anymore magic out," Cassidy said fighting back a yawn. It seemed every time she met Jafar, she had run her magics out.

"You don't need to anymore." He said softly. "Let me worry about the magic for now. Just relax. I can handle things now. Rest, if you want to. I can probably have you home by the time you wake up."


	6. Chapter 6

Sometime later found the trio in Cassidy's living room, Simon passed out on the couch, and Jafar, somehow, lying on the floor with Cassidy asleep on top of his frame. He wasn't fully sure quite how to handle the situation, but for the time being he just hoped his entry into the house was quiet enough that it didn't alert anyone or anything to his being there. He didn't want to know what sort of fuss Nana would get into if she caught him there on the floor with Cassidy asleep on top of him.

The girl was snuggled up against him, legs tucked up in her skirt. She was holding on to red robes and seemed content to cuddle there while she recovered her strength from the over use of magic. The Dark Magician just remained as he was, shifting a little and gently holding onto Cassidy while she rested, his face slightly pink, but his eyes showing contentment with the situation all the same. His staff lay nearby, still within reach, but only if he needed it. After all, it was hard to cuddle your human when one was holding a staff.

After the night finished and the morning came, Cassidy pushed herself up, blinking around confused before looking down at the armor and robed covered chest she was on. Then she seem to realize who was there, and stared at Jafar as if confirming he was real while shifting her grip on his robes at the same time for added proof. Jafar, having fallen asleep sometime during the night, had woken up moments before Cassidy did, and gave her a small, sleepy seeming smile.

"Good morning." He said quietly. "Rest well?"

"Eee!" Cassidy squeaked, and then flopped onto the caster's chest, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. "You're back!"

Jafar blinked, but laughed quietly as he hugged Cassidy in return. "Yes," he said, voice still quiet. "I am most definitely back, and I can stay as long as you want me to now."

"How?" Cassidy tilted her head, paused and lifted a hand to her pockets as she remembered the Duel Monster cards, but finding none she _eep_ ed at the missing cards.

He noticed her movements, and chuckled quietly. "They're on the coffee table, Cassidy. I wouldn't just leave your cards behind. Your friend's are there too. All are accounted for, as far as I could tell."

"Its different from other magic cards I've come across," Cassidy admitted, and then reached out. Even though she was low on magics she could still call over one of the cards without looking. It had her imprint of magic and another more than echo of shadows.

"Well, I guess that's to be expected. There are many different magic types out there, as far as I recall." Jafar nodded a little to his words.

"So... this is you!" Cassidy looked between the card and the caster before turning it around to show him.

The Dark Magician looked at the card, smiled, and nodded. "Well he certainly does look like me." He commented with a chuckle. "And you were only able to summon me after you got that card, so I suppose that means it is, essentially, me." He paused before adding with a small chuckle. "Though perhaps he's a bit too small..." He was probably just saying that to make Cassidy laugh, or at least try to.

"Mini-Jar," Cassidy couldn't help but have a giggle fit, hiding her face against the not quite man's chest.

"Mini... Jar?" The Dark Magician blinked as he repeated that, though he figured it out after a moment and laughed quietly. "I see you gave the card a pet name."

"Mini Jaaaar," Cassidy giggled again, hugging the card to her as she tried to hide her amusement at the name. She knew she failed at it though.

Jafar just laughed a little more. "I take it that's a nickname that's going to stick until the end of the worlds?" He asked with his own strong dose of amusement.

Chocolate brown eyes peeked up at him, "Maybe." Cassidy smiled, "Do you mind Jafar?"

He chuckled. "No, I do not mind." He responded faintly. "In the Shadow Realm, I'm known for shrinking myself and hiding from people anyways."

"I don't think you would need to do that," Cassidy said, honestly believing and also some loyalty.

Jafar laughed. "I don't hide because I'm afraid of them. I hide because I just don't want to deal with them. Some of my acquaintances are really bothersome at times."

"Hmm..." Cassidy sighed and rested her head on Jafar's chest, for now still a bit lethargic as she looked at the card again, finding it still missing the hat in the image and taking an odd comfort in that, linking it to Jafar even more.

Jafar smiled faintly when Cassidy did this, his expression showing faint amusement as he asked. "Do you think your grandmother will be in a good mood when she finds out about this?" He was referring to the bond the pair had when he spoke, though his wording may not have been overly clear.

"Me glomping and cuddling a creature of shadow and darkness?" Cassidy considered for one two seconds, "Probably not."

Jafar blinked, but gave an awkward smile. "I was referring to the magic bond we have presently, but if she wouldn't approve of what you're doing right now, she'll probably be fit to kill me when she finds out about the connection."

"Um... lets not tell her for now, she might do a purification ring on me if she found out I called shadow magic." The paper witch winced a bit, fingering the golden edge of Jafar's robes. Some part of mind wondered when the last time these were washed.

Jafar shivered. "I... have a feeling that might hurt both of us?" He asked faintly, now seeming uneasy. He glanced at her fingers, his expression showing curiosity. "... um... I take it you like the fabric?"

"Maybe..." Cassidy was hesitant to say, "I've only really seen it on few others." Then she realized what he said after and blushed herself, "Um, I was thinking you might need it washed..."

Jafar blinked, but chuckled quietly. "Ah. Actually I had it washed not too long back. A day or two at the most." He then thought about what Cassidy said about the purification ring, but decided not to comment on it.

"hmm," Cassidy sniffed, looked away and then blinked as two feline pairs of eyes glared at her. Claws and Isis both silently demanding to be fed, the latter looking close to screaming in the Siamese way.

Jafar blinked, also seeing the two sets of eyes. He remembered at that moment that he hadn't seen them up until now, and as such gave a faintly amused little grin. "Looks like someone's hungry." He said quietly.

Claws growled as the feline Queen started to take a deeper breath, but it came out as a strangled mew. Mostly because Cassidy had scooped Isis up.

"Oh no you don't," The girl sighed as she sat up.

The Dark Magician laughed quietly once more as he watched this, though he quickly quieted himself, his eyes showing that he found the scene highly entertaining. He decided he wouldn't speak though.

Simon shifted a bit in his sleep, but didn't wake up yet. He'd probably be up soon. Cassidy was tempted to put one of the cats on him, but she was too much of a good girl to do so. Instead she edged off of Jafar, though really didn't want to get off of the (strange) safety of the caster. At least that's how it felt to her in regards to the Dark Magician.

Never the less for all their sanity, and their ears, she rose slowly and just as slowly walked over to the food dishes of the cats.

Jafar pushed himself into a sitting position, merely watching quietly and smiling the whole time. Though after a minute he asked, "Will you be alright?"

"For now yes," The paper witch nodded as she sipped the tea she made after feeding the cats. Glancing over at Simon she cringed at the thought of him coming out of whatever peace he had in sleep, only to come back to the memories of reality.

Jafar glanced over at Simon as well, his expression showing faint concern. "Any theories on what sort of reaction he will have when he wakes up? He seemed incredibly pale earlier... or is he naturally that pale? He still seems a bit unhealthy..."

"Um, not _that_ pale," Cassidy admitted with a sigh, fiddling a bit with her cup, "He's a fireman but really, really new to the magic world. I think yesterday was the first time he believed me about magic."

The dark one thought it over a bit, his expression showing confusion after a moment, "...what is a fireman? It sounds... dangerous."

"It is," Cassidy nodded as she tried to explain, "it's like a fire brigade, the men who go in to fight fires and put them out, as well as save anyone inside, or recover remains."

"Ah." Jafar commented, his expression showing that he understood now. "That does make more sense."

Cassidy shifted in his lap, balancing her cup between her kness to pull out her cards, that she had picked up on the way back. She flipped through them and held up the extra one, the spell book, "This is Simon's...did it help?"

The dark one smiled as he nodded. "It did indeed. It actually gave my attack enough power that it should have been mostly painless. Though the screaming did tend to suggest it hurt even worse at impact..."

Cassidy winced, "Erm... don't mention that to Simon..." She paused and did a double take on the monster, blinking a few times before adding, "You know there's a brown fuzzy something sitting on your head?"

Jafar grimaced a bit. "Yes, that's a detail we probably shouldn't mention." He then blinked. "There's... a brown fuzzy something on my head?" He paused for a moment before gently reaching up and trying to touch the fuzzy brown something, having a good guess of what it was.

"That's what was in the hat!" Cassidy gasped as she remembered, "Kree...roo...I forgot the name..."

"Ah, Kuriboh." The magician responded, laughing faintly as he lowered his hand again. "Cute little creatures, aren't they? Just mind you don't bump them too hard. They can be a little explosive." He seemed to forget that information like what he just said had the potential to be worrying to a human.

" _Explosive_?" Cassidy echoed, eyes wide as the second mini-Kuriboh had climbed up into her lap where she started petting it. She looked up, "Um, what's considered hard?"

"Anything like a punch or harder." Jafar responded with a small chuckle. "We're quite safe. You have to deliberately hit it to make it angry enough to blow up anyway."

"Why would any one hit it?" She looked down at the fuzzy creature snugging against her middle, "...wouldn't that be a crime against all things cute or something?"

Again, the magician laughed, "One would think so, yes. But, there are always people like the Witty Phantoms who would just love to take advantage of a situation where they have the upper hand." He winced faintly as he remembered what'd happened to him when he'd got back 'home' after his first visit to Earth. "...I really don't like Phantoms..."

"Witty Phantoms?" Cassidy blinked, the name having no meaning to her, "...that sounds like a trailer trash band... if I can be forgiven for the stereo-typing..."

"They're... unique people." Jafar responded, turning his gaze towards Simon's deck and, with a small flick of his fingers, drawing a card effortlessly from the middle without upsetting the other cards. He then showed the card to Cassidy. "That's a Witty Phantom, and they are some of the most annoying people I've met. I had a... less than pleasant run-in with one shortly after I left here before."

"It's a Mafia elf." Cassidy finally judged head tilting at the offered card, touching it lightly on the corner.

"A... what elf?" He asked with confusion. He also seemed to be watching with mild uncertainty, hoping that she wouldn't accidentally summon one into the house.

"Gangster... old school style." She shrugged, pulling back and seemed not wanting anything to do with the monster because of this reason, "The style of his suit..."

"Ah," Jafar responded. "...I am still not fully sure how that works, but hey, you know what you're talking about, so that's what matters."

Simon shifted now, coughing quietly in his sleep before his eyes opened a tiny bit. "... Headache... not... fun..." He mumbled vaguely. "... very much... ouch factor..."

"I'll introduce you to mafia movies later," Cassidy promised the dark one as the Kuriboh on Jafar's head scrambled down and vanished, before reappearing on the mortal man's chest.

"Croo?" it asked.

Simon was about to ask Cassidy if he'd fallen asleep while they were playing Halo, but the sudden presence of a Kuriboh on his chest made him yelp and just about fall off the couch, his eyes wide as he stared at the little furball. "It's... there's a..." He let out a long, shaky exhale. "Okay... calm down Simon, this is just a very realistic dream. There's a Kuriboh on my chest... there's a... OH MY GOSH IT WASN'T A DREAM AT ALL WAS IT?!"

Jafar flinched at the boy's shout, but commented with an eyebrow raised. "Well, Cassidy, it seems as though your friend has a very strong set of wind pipes."

The girl stared at one then the other male before sighing and dropping her head into her hands to hide her face, while both Claws and Isis screamed in feline protest at Simon's yell. She looked up at the tall monster before picking up her cup, and her own Kuriboh before scooting around. She was now completely curled up in Jafar's lap because of the needed movement to face her friend. "Simon? Take a deep breath before you hyperventilate and pass out," Cassidy ordered, "This is Jafar, he's... um, well he's not exactly _harmless,_ but he's a good. _Safe_."

The somewhat panicky young man jumped when he heard the cats, and shivered when Cassidy spoke. Shakily looking over, he froze, his face going just as white as it had been during the attack. "H-he's a... a real... o-oh my... head... r-really hurting... not... computing this very well... someone p-please explain just how this works?"

Jafar eyed Simon's face with concern, but he stayed quiet, deciding it would probably be best if Cassidy handled answering the questions for now.

"Simon?" Cassidy asked.

He looked nervously at her, "Y-yeah Cassidy?" He asked faintly. "Wh-what is it?"

" _Breath_." The paper witch ordered as firmly as she could.

"Right." He said quietly. "Breathe... air... important..." He closed his eyes and relaxed his head back against the couch again. "...breathe... in... out... okay... getting it together... Oh man this is a weird day..."

Jafar seemed faintly amused as he watched, though he was still concerned.

"For goodness sake Simon," Cassidy sighed, "You're supposed to be a brave Fire-Fighter, and able to keep a calm head. Do so now."

"There's a difference between fire, and this though." Simon responded quietly. "Firefighters don't normally deal with arcane antics..."

Jafar glanced at Cassidy. "Going by how he's reacting, I'd say he has a reasonable point."

"Keeping in mind that I'm from a family where magic runs in our veins, and he's not, I think I'll concede that point," Cassidy nodded, then had to grab onto an armor clad arm (that she was sure had just as hard muscles underneath) and leaned forward to offer her remaining chai to the man, thinking he needed the caffeine.

The young firefighter gratefully accepted the drink after sitting up, his face fading back to its usual paleness instead of ghostly white. "Thanks... s-sorry for all the fuss. I'm just... really, really not used to all this..." Jafar was now watching Simon with curiosity, his gaze holding a look that made Simon shudder. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Jafar shook his head. "No. Sorry, I'll stop. Just thought I saw something unusual."

Simon merely gave a shaky nod, though he said nothing else. The girl mean time looked between the men, frowning. "Okay, time for something new. Give me your hands." She said reaching for the Monster's hand, scooting across his lap.

Jafar raised an eyebrow as he shifted, reached over, and took hold of her hand. Simon just watched with what was clearly unease, though he said nothing. Again, Jafar turned his gaze on the young man, his own brief glint of uncertainty returning for a second or two before it faded and he turned his gaze back to Cassidy.

She tugged on Jafar's fingers to come closer, and once he was she put Simon's hand in his (also hoping that the caster remembered his hand shake lesson). "Lets try this again, since you're calmer."

Simon hesitated a moment before shakily reaching out and touching Jafar's hand. He yelped quietly and recoiled, but shakily put his hand back. Jafar, on the other hand, actually seemed to go slightly pale. However, he said nothing.

"No _that_ is a reaction." Cassidy all but glared at both of them, "Explain Jafar, I see that look in your eyes, you know something." She grasped both male's hands again to put herself in between them. She was assuming that Simon's reaction was to the shadow magic. But Jafar's reaction? "Simon is my person, and Jafar you're now apart of my life so I don't want to lose my friend or my person."

Jafar hesitated, his expression slowly turning to a frown. "Cassidy, there is something I should tell you about your friend... one that will likely explain just why he and I seem to be getting off on the wrong foot..." He sighed, trying to find the right words. "... Blunt seems to be best for this..." He looked between Simon and Cassidy. "... Everyone has something that I've heard people call an 'inner monster'. For instance, I became the Dark Magician by... oh forget the technicalities. Long story short... Simon is a Blue Eyes White Dragon. He and I are naturally at odds. It's not really my choice to be that way, but it will certainly make things awkward."

The paper witch tilted her head looking at Simon, remembering that picture she'd seen on his favorite card. Her expression was rather interesting as she did so, but wasn't able to see it. "Everyone one has an inner spirit form... is that what you mean?"

The Dark Magician nodded. "Precisely. There's more in-depth ways to explain it, but I'd rather not recite that all right now. I fear it might make you bored to death and quite possibly more confused. At any rate, yes, everyone has an inner spirit form. I became mine, and - if my guess is correct - a person's favorite card of Duel Monsters, or the one they might 'relate to' the most, is what their own inner spirit is."

Jafar raised an eyebrow as he looked at her expression. "What's wrong? You seem flustered." Simon, on the other hand, was trying to figure out how the inner spirit thing worked. He seemed quite lost about what was going on.

"I think its going to be very complicated with mine." Cassidy finally sighed, after a hesitation she moved to sit on Jafar's lap again. As much trying to split her quite reassurances, as was as the basic thing that the red clad caster was warm… and she was not. She looked back at Simon, "You're not on shift soon are you? You look like you could go home and sleep again."

"Oh?" Jafar asked. "Why's that?" He then looked curiously at Simon.

Simon shook his head. "No shift today. I'll be okay. Just need to get over this overload of world-changing."

"I want you to take something, stay here, both of you-er, all four. Sorry," She pulled her fuzzy monster off her shoulder and put it on Jafar's armor so she could get up and run to the car port attached to her little cabin. After much rummaging and searching around she came back. The paper witch held out her hands to Simon to strap bands over his wrists, then a necklaces over his head, "keep these on"

The two just blinked as they turned and looked over, Simon blinking several times as he asked. "And... wh-what exactly do these do?"

"Good luck and protection charms," Cassidy explained, "You have my and Jafar's magic echoing around you, these working together is like a buffer for you. It'll keep most casters from noticing you."

Simon gave a small smile. "Ah, I see... thanks..." He then blinked. "Wait... what do you mean by 'it'll keep most casters from noticing me'? I don't quite get what you're saying."

"You won't really..." Cassidy struggled to explain it before turning at pointing at Jafar, "Here. Tell me exactly what you see when you look at Jafar."

Simon raised an eyebrow as he looked at Jafar. "... a red-clad, dark skinned Dark Magician with grey hair, yellow eyes, and a perplexed expression... oh, and no hat." Jafar raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"I see shadow clinging to his robes and curling around his fingers," Cassidy said slowly, letting her words sink in, "I see his aurora that's a dark purple-black with tread of silver and red woven in to it, I see the bright glow from his staff." She turned her eyes back to Simon, "I can see magic, and so can Jafar, higher level casters all can. Even higher can see beyond charms like you have on, but most normal casters won't since you have next to nothing yourself."

"Um... okay?" Simon asked awkwardly. "So... these charms hide casters from me... and me from them? Or did I really mess something up in here?"

"They hide _you_ from casters." Cassidy tried again, "But you don't even have the skill to see magic at all. So its moot."

"Ah..." Simon responded, nodding a little. "That makes sense now." He gave a small smile. "That'll probably really save my hide later on."

Jafar seemed to be considering what Cassidy had described him as, but decided not to ask about it just yet. That may have been the reason she was scared of him in the first time they met. Now though, Cassidy seemed to trust him and quite a lot.

Simon eventually gave a weak smile. "Any way you could teach me how to use my cards the way you did earlier? As scary as that was, I... I want to know how, just in case I need to do something like that in the future."

"I don't know how I summoned them," Cassidy admitted looking down at her lap. "I just poured my magic into them and hopped."

Simon gave a small nod as he fidgeted a little. "Okay... well, I guess that hoping mixed with the magic did something... sounds simple enough... sort of?"

"More or less." Cassidy smiled, expertly hiding her exhaustion from the over use of magic, and the just shear new style of shadow magic itself. Though the young woman knew she could hide it from Simon... Jafar could see auras like she could...

Simon gave a small laugh. "I might figure something out after all." He missed Cassidy's exhaustion.

Jafar, however, saw it plain as day. "Cassidy..." He said quietly. "Should you go take a nap, or do something else to recharge yourself?"

She tensed in his lap, but only for a moment, "I'm okay for a little bit," She didn't look up at the Monster, not right away. "Do you want me to see you off the property Simon?"

Jafar frowned a little. "Mhm..." He commented, showing fully that he was unconvinced, but willing to let it be for now.

Simon smiled faintly. "I'll be fine on my own, if you want to stay inside. It's up to you though, because I'm happy either way."

"It is raining outside... I think I'll stay inside." Cassidy blushed, "I think you're car is still under the overhang. Watch out for The Kar though."

Simon gave a small nod as he pushed himself to his feet and put his deck of cards in his pocket. "Good to know. I'll see you later, alright Cass?" He paused to look at Jafar. "Ehm... it was nice to meet you?" He then turned and headed off to his car.

Jafar watched him go before just shaking his head. "That boy defies my logic..."

"He's not used to magic, and I get the feeling that you're not used to dealing with people like that." the girl hazard, finally peeking up at golden-yellow eyes after listening to the sounds of her friend scooting around her own possessed car, then to his and slowly driving away.

The magician thought that over before nodding. "I suppose you have a point. He and I are... very different." He shook his head a little. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that, were he from my world, he'd be the most backwards Blue Eyes I'll ever have met."

He then smiled a bit as he considered it a bit more. "He's not half bad though, I'll give him that much credit."

"No he's not," Cassidy agreed before her smiled faulted and the paper witch sighed as she had to lean back against the Dark Magician, this time she couldn't hide the small tremors anymore.

Jafar absently ran his fingers through her hair without really knowing he was. "Yep, you definitely need some rest. You've had a long day."

She leaned back into the touch, not sure when from the night before to this morning her braid had come undone. The feeling of someone playing, even lightly, was enough to have Cassidy closing her eyes.

Jafar smiled a bit as he continued to lightly play with her hair. He seemed to be getting amusement out of the situation, as well as seemed to be relaxing as well because of what was going on.

The feathers that remained clasped in the drift of black brushed against his fingers. The younger caster seemed content to stay where she was, though she might snuggle against him to heat leach before maybe going asleep again.

The magician smiled at this, shifting a little so Cassidy was a bit closer to his frame. He was half tempted to see if he could sing her to sleep - he had been complimented on occasion for his vocal ability over the years - but decided it might not be the best plan at the moment.

Cassidy sighed as she relaxed fully against the Monster, that really didn't seem like one at all in the meaning of the word. She closed her eyes, though after finding and latching tiredly onto Jafar's other hand.

Jafar smiled as he gently held her hand, still stroking her hair with the other as he just let her rest against him. Yes, he was definitely satisfied with the present situation. After all, he'd always been the sort of person who enjoyed cuddles, even if he didn't look or generally act the part.

"Jafar?" Cassidy asked after a long enough to give the impression that she might have doesn't off.

The magician blinked, having actually thought she'd drifted off, and looked curiously at her. "Hm? What is it, Cassidy?"

"Thank you again for saving me..." The girl said turning to rest the side of her head against his chest, ready to sleep for the rest of the day and next night. Part of her hoped this shadow magic wasn't going to be like this all the time.

The spell caster paused before chuckling faintly and lightly kissing the top of her head. "Any time, Cassidy." He said softly as he shifted a little, gently holding her close to his frame, though not so tight that she wouldn't be able to shift and move without struggling to pull it off. He knew she was smaller than he was, and as such he didn't want to make her end up in an uncomfortable position. Tucking her legs again, the girl settled into the dark one's hold. A bundle of innocent trust in the caster now.

And her trust, it seemed, was very well placed. Jafar wasn't about to do anything to her, nor was he about to let anything, or anyone, disturb her... well, unless it was Cassidy's grandmother. That lady would forever be someone to be feared, as far as Jafar saw it. For now, at least.


	7. Chapter 7

Waking up again, Cassidy blinked and stared at the curtain of red and black in front of her. It took a moment before she squinted; slowly she identified the mass of crimson as fabric. A part of a robe in fact that she was virtually hiding under Jafar's peace robes. Not entirely sure when he'd changed (the many uses of magic?) but the girl was feeling much better.

Bit hungry but in general Cassidy felt content enough to snuggle down a bit more before the rest of her body woke up and realized it needed to do a few things.

Jafar, in the meantime, seemed half asleep himself, though still awake enough to be aware of his surroundings. He didn't, however, notice that Cassidy had woken up. He'd probably figure that out soon enough though; he was generally quick on the uptake when it came to all things Cassidy.

An arm reached up before sender fingers gently traced over Jafar's features before Cassidy tapped his nose lightly until he woke up.

Jafar woke up fairly quickly, inhaling with mild sharpness and blinking a few times before smiling tiredly at Cassidy. "Good morning." He said softly. "Slept well, I hope." His cheeks had tinted slightly pink, as though he were slightly embarrassed or just a little flustered. Whatever the reason was, he didn't seem too bothered by the situation.

He got a giggle, Cassidy's full of playful energy for just waking up herself, pulling her hand back she nodded. "Yes, thank you for being a bed and pillow." she said, smiling from her spot all but hidden in his robes. "...and blanket...heh..."

The Magician chuckled softly, smiling as he noticed Cassidy's situation. "Well, you were comfortable and that's what matters. As that is the case, you are most welcome, and are welcome to use me again for comfort purposes like that whenever you want." His face tinted red as he murmured under his breath. "I kind of enjoyed it anyway..." It was hard to tell what he said, since he was so quiet, but that seemed to be the content of his statement.

Cassidy _eep_ ed, flushing she hid her face, understanding what he said but her youthful mind happily take it in a few other directions as well, "I kind of need to get up and go now though..."

Perfect excuse to compose herself.

Jafar chuckled. "Alright then." He said, moving his arms so she could get up unhindered. "Go right ahead."

Unwrapping herself from the blanket warm robes of the caster, and still blushing, Cassidy skipped off to the bathroom to vanish in there. After a few minutes she popped out to grab a new skirt and cloths before ducking back in to change. That was the down side of having a pretty much all in one room-cabin...

"How long was I out?" Cassidy's voice drifted out through the door.

The magician merely smiled as he closed his eyes and waited, humming softly to himself before he heard Cassidy's question. "Hm? Oh, I'm not actually sure. All I know is you slept soundly, and seemed quite comfortable."

He could hear a squeak from his spot, there was also the sound of running water as Cassidy splashed water on her face in a vain attempt to get her blush off. Coming out, she was intent on finding her cell phone as well as the things to make a needed meal.

And more caffeine.

Jafar, unfortunately, mistook her squeak for her getting hurt, and asked with concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Cassidy assured as she ran her hands through her hair, finding the feathers and other dangles that seemed to take up residence in the long plats. Up to and including a few tiny, squeaking paper cranes that she had to shake out before locating a brush for the next project as the eggs were set to boil in her tiny kitchen.

"Alright." He responded, smiling a little as he just listened to the sounds around him instead of actually seeing things with his eyes. "It's just that you squeaked, so I wasn't sure what happened." He paused before opening his eyes and grimacing a little. "I don't... bother you, do I?"

"Of course you don't bother me!" Cassidy lifted her hair to smile reassuringly at the Monster, "Jafar, I'm just squeaky in general..."

The spell caster glanced at her with amusement. "Ah, good to know that. In that case, I'll try not to deliberately make you squeak. I... can't guarantee that it'll always work that way though. I've noticed that some of the things I say seem to make you a bit awkward."

"That's what happens when two different cultures meet... or maybe its three..." She considered coming back over, shaking her long hair out again then waved away the little cranes in annoyance as they tried nesting again before she could brush it out. Cassidy was almost tempted to take a shower to make sure the paper made creatures stayed away for a bit.

"Three?" Jafar inquired curiously, not really sure how it would work that way. He probably wasn't the best thinker when he was tired.

"Modern times and magic," Cassidy held up one diget, and lifted others with each point, "Old Egypt and its magics. Then the Shadow Realm world you mentioned."

"Ah, that makes sense now." He said awkwardly, smiling with a hint of sheepishness. "You'll have to forgive me, I'm a bit slow when it comes to thinking while I'm a bit tired."

"Odd since we, or at least I was out for a fully twenty four hours..." Cassidy blinked at her cell phone, and was glad that her grandmother no longer expected daily calls. "Wow... did I really use shadow magic?"

"What's odd?" Jafar asked curiously. "As for magic... if you summoned me, I believe that means you did. I'm not fully certain, but I do believe that was shadow magic, of some sort or another."

"Hmm..." Cassidy paused, stood back up and rummaged through the kitchen and came up with salmon jerky. She had the worst case of the munchies and couldn't wait for the eggs, though the girl did offer some to Jafar as she sat beside him.

The magician seemed curious, looking the jerky over with confusion before asking as he accepted a piece. "Mind my inquiring what this is?" Apparently he hadn't had jerky before. That or he hadn't had it in so long that he forgot what it was.

"Its salmon jerky," Cassidy said, taking a bite to prove it was good, thankfully for Jafar this wasn't her spicy batch, "Remember the smoked salmon salad from the first time you were here? Its the same fish, just dried."

He thought over what she told him before giving a small nod. "Ah, alright." He tasted a little bit of it at first, though afterwards he gave a nod, as though approving of the jerky, and ate a bit more. "Mmm." Was all he said, not wanting to talk with his mouth full.

A giggle came from beside him as Cassidy non to gracefully munched on a smaller piece as she used her hands to start the semi long process of brushing out her hair, "Should ah get more hard?" she asked around her mouthful.

Unfortunately, Jafar had no idea what she was talking about due to the food in her mouth. "Should do what?" He asked with confusion, one of his eyebrows raised a bit as he tried to figure out just what Cassidy was talking about.

Apparently mouth-full-enese didn't translate well.

The paper witch held up one of the Duel Monsters cards instead, magical hats, not wanting to give up her salmon bit.

"...oh!" Jafar said after a moment or two of silence, figuring out what she had meant. "Cards. It might be a good idea to, just in case something happens. One can never be too prepared, after all."

"Hmm..." Cassidy considered her small semi deck of cards as she brushed, she did have some spare money in her budget this month... not much, but a little.

Jafar glanced her over a little. "Debating if you should or not?" He inquired.

"Do you need a charm to go...well... not unseen but... unnoticed?" Cassidy asked instead, looking the dark one up and down. Robes and armor weren't, all things considering, too out of place for her world, but to 'normal' people with even just and once of Sight would see Jafar. Though maybe not as a caster but see him non the less as a tall and strangely dressed man. Thus attracting attention.

"Probably not." He replied, glancing himself over. "The most I'd probably need is more... ehm... modern clothing I think the term would be. I don't think what I've got on is the usual style for the general populace... If I look normal, who would question what I am, yes?"

"It doesn't have to be perfect at first," Cassidy judged between nibbles of more fish. "Even a short tunic and pants would do, I can make a charm so that you can go out and get an idea of what's around." She offered, unknowing that even just by talking about a Monster having the freedom to explore the world wasn't exactly 'normal' by caster and duelist standards.

Jafar nodded a little before raising an eyebrow. "Sorry, I'm having a small fail. What sort of charm would it be?"

Cassidy dissolved into giggles that turned into laugher.

Jafar blinked a few times. "...did I say something funny?"

"Yes!" the paper witch gasped out, giggling again.

"What did I say?" He inquired, seeming utterly and genuinely perplexed.

Taking two deep breaths to calm down a bit, but Cassidy's eyes still sparkled with mirth as she looked up at Jafar, "How...heh, how far does this bond we have go?"

Still utterly confused, the spell caster replied. "I'm not fully certain. I would have to ask Dark One about it. I haven't quite gotten to reading that much in the books yet..."

"Because..." Cassidy grinned now, folding her hands on her lap to try and keep some of her amusement in, "You used a modern idiom of speech! And I know that Simon and I didn't use it with you here."

"I... did?" Jafar asked curiously. "...what'd I say?" He was totally oblivious, it seemed.

"'I'm having a small fail,'" Cassidy echoed his wording from a minute ago, giggled once more, and for some reason if the bond they now had was deep enough or different then she first thought that Jafar was able to gleam modern (and American English accented at that) phrases... it didn't bother her.

"...so ...that's a modern term?" He inquired. "Curious... perhaps this bond of hours is giving me new things to say without us even knowing it... or perhaps not." He gave a small shrug. "...'having a small fail,' how does that make sense though? A failure is a failure."

"'A fail' as we use it, can mean a few ways of having a failure... like," Cassidy paused as she grouped for an example that could easily be related to him, and not confuse the older caster with something from her world he may not know yet, "Like, putting a different herb in a mixture then you meant to, though the potion fails it still has a factor of amusement. Does that help?"

"Hm... I believe so." Jafar responded after giving it some thought. "... yes, I think that does make sense now." He smiled faintly. "Thank you for explaining it for me. It's probably a bad thing to say something and have no clue what it means." He paused for a moment, his face tinting faintly red when he remembered that he'd actually had a different fail early on in his days of practicing magic. Of course, he had been a lot younger back then, so much younger that it had happened before he'd even become a Dark Magician. Even still though, the event had left rather hilarious, and humiliating, results.

Setting her plate of fish jerky aside, Cassidy rose to wrap her arms around Jafar's neck in a reassuring hug.

The magician smiled when she hugged him, chuckling faintly as he commented. "You like hugging me, don't you?"

"I'm from a huggy family." The girl sniffed in a pretended huff.

Jafar laughed faintly. "Did I say that was a bad thing?" He inquired, amusement plain as day on his face and in his tone.

"No," The girl tilted her head, then squeaked and hurried over to the boiling pot and the eggs inside, no need to over cook them!

Jafar blinked before chuckling quietly as he watched her go. He was starting to find her squeaking to be rather entertaining, if not cute.

"Okay... this will be a few minutes," Cassidy said as she started shelling the warm or some hot eggs, "But, back on the first subject, the charm I'm thinking will block cameras for the most part, but it would let you walk around more or less unnoticed, diverting attention away from you."

"Ah. That does sound like a good idea." The dark one responded. "...what's a camera?"

Shifting to push her hair back again, Cassidy pointed to a silver device behind Jafar on a shelf, "That's one there behind you."

Jafar raised an eyebrow as he shifted and looked over at the device. "... and... what exactly does a camera do?"

"It captures images, so you can see friends or sights again." Cassidy tried explaining.

"...it ...captures images?" He asked. "...I don't fully understand what you mean."

"Pick it up," Cassidy said, grinning as she tilted to let her hair hide her amusement for her plan.

Jafar was unaware of what her plan was, and as such, he reached out and, after a moment of hesitation, carefully picked the camera up, looking it over with confused interest.

"Push and hold the orange spot for a few seconds, it'll turn on"

"Ehm... okay?" The magician looked the camera over with curiosity, finding the 'orange spot' and doing what he'd been told to. "...this thing doesn't explode, does it?" He asked, half joking and half being serious.

"Not unless you poor raw magic into it," Cassidy shrugged, glanced over and saw the light that camera was on, "The big round button on the top takes the pictures."

Jafar seemed faintly amused. "Well, that's good to know." He then looked at the top of the camera, finding the big button. "Alright... and how do I know where this thing is aiming?" Or do you just guess and hope for the best?"

"The lens is where its pointing," Cassidy said, pulling out a knife to divide the shelled eggs. "Just point and push and you have a picture taking"

"Okay then... Hm..." Having no real idea what the 'lens' was, or where it was, the magician spent a bit of time trying to figure this out, though eventually he had a general guess, and, hoping he wasn't doing something wrong, pushed the large button on top to see what would happen. There was a pause of a split moment before there was a click and then the camera flashed as it took a picture of the dark one. Jafar let out a slight yelp of surprise, nearly dropping the camera as he blinked several times to try and get his vision organized again. "What in Amun's name was that?!" He spluttered, looking from the camera, to Cassidy, and back again. This was sure to yield amusing results as far as the actual picture went.

The paper witch looked over, took it in and guessed her guess was right before giggling, "That was a flash." she grinned.

Jafar looked at her again with perplexion, alarm still visible on his face. "I figured that part out, but what did it do? Why did it flash at me?" Yep, he was utterly lost and confused on what to do or how to react.

Whipping off her hands, Cassidy came over to take the camera from his lax fingers. The girl aimed it, away from her, and clicked a picture of the wall, then switched the settings so the picture that had just been taken showed, "See?" she flipped it to the next, showing Jafar's own startled expression- upside down- that she couldn't help but laugh at.

Jafar's face flushed a little red. "You deliberately didn't tell me what to do on purpose, didn't you?" He asked. He didn't sound annoyed. Merely flustered, if not embarrassed about not figuring out how to use a camera before he pressed the button.

Wide chocolate brown eyes turned to Jafar in perfect innocence. "What do you mean?"

Jafar wanted to look stern, he really, truly did and he tried his hardest to do so. However, that wasn't how things went. He ended up caving to her innocent eyes. "You know what I mean." He said with a small laugh. "You could've told me which way was up with the camera, for starters. You could've also told me which way to point it, but you didn't. Instead you decided to let me make a jester of myself."

"I said the lens shows where its pointing," Cassidy said, still keeping her innocent air as she pointed to the extending lens of the camera and then took a picture of the older caster.

"You rather failed to explain to me what the lens was." Jafar responded with amusement, still trying and failing to seem more serious than he really felt. His paper witch giggled and offered the camera to him to play with before skipping back to the kitchenette. Jafar accepted the camera, this time with a better sense of direction and know-how thanks to Cassidy's showing him what to do, and as such decided he'd try his luck taking a picture of Cassidy. Thankfully, he had it right-side-up, and facing the right direction. "Ah... that's a bit more... understandable in a not-understandable way... how does it even save these images anyway?"

"That," Cassidy looked back over her shoulder, "That might be something to ask later after you have more experience... or get used to modern tech a bit more."

"...tech meaning... whatever this camera thing is made of?" He inquired, an eyebrow raising somewhat.

"Yes," Cassidy nodded, mixing now and seemed determined to make her deviled eggs.

"...one last question about 'tech'." Jafar commented after some consideration. "...is it like magic?"

"Modern technology can sometimes seem like Magic yes," Cassidy inclined her head, thinking of Kiba-Corp's holograms let alone everything else they were putting out.

Jafar seemed somewhat intrigued. "Alright. I'll ask about that later though. When I understand more."

Cassidy smiled as she finished the eggs and came over with a large plate filled with them. These plus the rest of her salmon should be enough protein, "Here, try these."

The magician gingerly set the camera down before turning and looking curiously at Cassidy. "Hm?" He asked, not fully sure what they were at first. All the same though, his curiosity was in action, and he took one of the offered egg pieces, looking it over with curiosity before shrugging slightly and trying it. His expression was humorous, as he hadn't expected it to taste the way it did, though after he finished what was in his mouth, he smiled and said. "That's a rather interesting flavor."

"I love deviled eggs!" Cassidy chirped as she contentedly munched herself.

Jafar chuckled as he smiled at her. "They're certainly a change from the usual way of eating eggs... I think?"

"I guess, I like this best though...got it from dad." The girl said.

"Ah." Jafar responded, smiling faintly as he thought it over. He then gave an awkward laugh. "Nothing my own father cooked was worthy of passing down the line. Trust me." Cassidy eyed him, as if debating on a plot, probably to introduce him to more new things. The dark one noticed her expression, raising an eyebrow as he asked. "What's on your mind now?" He then finished the half eaten egg he was holding.

"Um... shiny things?" Cassidy offered.

The magician seemed unconvinced, but shrugged. "Well, okay then. I won't ask about it further."

The paper witch flushed and ducked her head to hide under her hair.

Jafar chuckled faintly. "You always hide your face behind your hair. Why?"

There was a long pause and then a shy voice asked, "...I do?"

"Well, not always." Jafar responded as he thought it over. "Frequently though." He hesitated a moment before lightly dusting his fingers off so they didn't have food on them, and then gently moved her hair, tucking it behind her ear as he said with a small smile. "There, that's a little better, I think... then again, it's your hair so it's really up to you how you wear it."

Before Cassidy could response, there was a tiny 'scree!' and a post-it-note crane popped out of the drift of black to nip at the Monster's finger tips. The sound was promptly echoed by another, the yellow one that had adopted Jafar in the Shadow Realm. The result was the two cranes, one yellow the other purple flittered around over the heads of shadow caster and paper witch as they argued in an epic but miniature scale.

Luckily, Jafar was fast enough to withdraw his hand before it got nipped. He then blinked when he saw the paper crane that'd been with him in the Shadow Realm, and could barely help himself as he quietly chuckled with amusement as he listened. "Please don't fight about something this trivial, you two." He said as he watched them. "Surely there are more important things than hair."

"As far as their concerned?" The girl arched up an eyebrow at the crane squabble drifted to the left of them on an air current, "It's from trivial."

Jafar thought that over a bit. "I guess to them, hair is like territory?"

Cassidy lifted her arms and sighed, "For all I know it is to them, but their small enough."

"I suppose that is true." Jafar responded, smiling faintly. "Who really knows for certain what their reasons are."

"Its not like they eat or drink," Cassidy mused as she herself reached for another egg.

"True enough." He agreed. "They certainly are unique." He then also took another egg, still a bit hungry.

"The cranes are the first thing I made, or did with magic," Cassidy smiled, running one hand through her hair to dislodge another crane, that got caught up in the squeaking argument above them, "I don't really remember it, as it was a long time ago, but Nana says it scared everyone for a day."

"I take it nobody knew you could use magic until then?" Jafar inquired, glancing at the third crane with amusement

The paper witch nodded, "Pretty much, took a long time before I realized I was a paper witch like my mother had been..."

The magician smiled a little. "I'm sure it was quite a shock to find out."

"That I was a paper witch?" Cassidy looked up and then shook her head, "No, not that part, like I said my mother was one so there was a good chance I would be to since that gift is normally passed along to girls in the families."

"Ah." He said, thinking that over. "Well, that makes sense I suppose." He laughed faintly. "I'm not very used to the newer concepts of magic, so please forgive me when I make errors."

The girl tilted her head, then nodded, "We can go to the temple archives if you want to later, to see what we have tracked with the different local lines of magic."

"There is an archives for where magical lineage goes?" He asked, now seeming surprised.

"For those that are willing to show, yes, its not minatory."

"Ah. So there are likely to be a few holes in the metaphorical patchwork then."

"In some places, but the archives are well protected so most don't mind," Cassidy added, polishing off her larger than normal meal. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.

Jafar nodded a little, thinking that over a bit. "That makes sense... I definitely have a lot of learning to do before I am fully ready to say I am used to this world."

"Take your time with it," Cassidy said, not wanting the Monster to be over-loaded too much.

Jafar nodded. "Of course. Taking it too fast would probably be a very, very bad thing."

 _And I don't want to see what a twitchy Dark Magician is like,_ Cassidy thought as she started cleaning up. When done Cassidy moved over to the back of the futon and drew Jafar's attention to where his hat was on a pillow, on a shelf. Two pairs of tiny kitten eyes peered out at the human and Monster.

The dark one looked over, seeming curious at first, but chuckling quietly when he saw the kittens. "Aw... glad to see they're healthy and happy."

"I think I can extract them now if you want your hat back." Cassidy offered, looking back at the caster.

He shook his head, smiling a bit as he sat down on the floor near Cassidy. "No, it's fine. If something turns up where I absolutely have to have a hat, I'll probably get a new one. Or, by then, this one will be available again."

The paper witch puffed her cheeks out before sighing, looking guiltily at Jafar and hugged her arms. The thought that 'if something happens' seemed more likely to happen sooner than later to her. It was sobering enough of a though to keep amusement at the use of another idiom by the Dark Magician in check.

Jafar looked her over before raising an eyebrow. "Did I say something that bothers you, Cassidy? You seem a bit unhappy about something."

Cassidy glanced up and then sat down on the futon with a great sigh, "Not exactly... its just, I'm kind of in that class of 'victim witch' like I told Simon. I can almost guarantee something will happen." She looked down at her lap. "Like what happened when I summoned you the other day."

Jafar didn't seem to fully figure out what she meant, but he had a general idea. "So... you think something bad is going to happen to someone?"

"More then likely me," Cassidy said.

"I won't let anything bad happen to you." Jafar responded with a small, re-assuring smile.

Chocolate colored eyes looked up at the monster sitting across from her, and Jafar could see that Cassidy was really not fully sure he meant that, despite being saved before. The mortal world was still full of dangers, different from all those thousands of years ago in his time but hazard enough for a fledgling type of magic caster.

Jafar sighed quietly as he looked at her, moving a little closer before reaching his hand out and lightly taking hold of one of Cassidy's. "I would not have made a link between us if I would not hold to my word, Cassidy." He said softly. "I am not about to turn my back on you after saying I would stay and help."

The paper witch looked up, staring intently at Jafar, searching his yellow eyes and only finding truth. After a long few moments her fingers finally curled around his in return, "...okay..." Cassidy took a steading breath and then nodded, "Okay, I'll trust you Jafar."

The magician smiled softly at her, giving her hand a soft, light, and re-assuring squeeze. "I'm glad you do." He said quietly. "Your trust means a lot to me, and I'll make sure I don't leave you with your trust misplaced." At that, Jafar got a lap full of black hair as his human clung tightly to him in a hug. The spell caster blinked several times as this happened, but he chuckled softly as he hugged her in return. He chuckled faintly, smiling as he gently held onto her.

Cassidy pulled up her legs, hiding her face in red robes as she clung to the fist source of true protection it seemed, outside of Claws and the property's guardian spirits. Jafar smiled as he continued to gently hold onto her, still just content to hug her for as long as she wanted him to. He decided right then and there that he wouldn't be leaving Cassidy, no matter what happened to him. He really couldn't picture himself doing anything other than sticking around with her now. It wasn't really a romantic feeling, persay, but it was certainly strong attachment.

The girl snuggled closer, wanting to stay for at least a few minutes before daring to brave the out ide world again.

The magician was entirely happy with this arrangement as well, it seemed, because he merely sat there, holding onto her and quietly humming an old tune he remembered from a year he didn't remember the date of. All he knew was that it was one he had always liked. Cassidy looked up, blinking a bit before resting her head back onto the monster's chest and closing her eyes as she listened to the old Egyptian tune. Jafar continued to smile and hum, his hawk eyes closed as he both enjoyed the closeness he had with Cassidy, and the song he was humming.


	8. Chapter 8

Taking in the scent of her local comic book store, Cassidy hesitated only a moment, glancing up to her left to sneak a peek at her companion. Then looked around to be sure her charm was working to keep most attention off him, and though there was a few glances their way... most was on her. Several young men made various squeaks and odd sounds, one stared until smacked by an employee.

The paper witch rolled her eyes, but Cassidy looked back down with a blush. Normally she didn't attract much attention, but also normally her hair was pulled back into a braid... Jafar had wanted to play with it basically and she didn't have the heart to not let him on the drive. Pushing the drift of black away from her eyes, the girl looked up one more time, because she just not used to seeing Jafar in anything but his robes and armor. He didn't have either.

Instead of wearing what was generally normal for a Dark Magician, the presently-six-foot spell caster was wearing a casual, dusty red t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a pair of black running shoes. Every now and then he seemed to shiver a little, probably not used to having so much of his tanned skin exposed. Other than that though, he seemed to be quite interested in his surroundings, though he still tried his best to actually look like he belonged instead of how things really were.

 _I can't believe going to the thrift store worked..._ Cassidy thought, still clasping the other caster's hand to provide an anchor in the world. Automatically the paper witch gravitated to the transformer comics, then remembered the reason for coming was the Duel Monster cards.

Okay... where were they?

Jafar, in the meantime, was looking around curiously as well, humming faintly as he considered where to go. He couldn't really see anything from his present vantage point, but he knew full well that growing a foot or two to have a better look would be a very, VERY stupid idea. Then again, the charm was supposed to be strong enough to shield his full form. Yet the ceiling overhead might argue with Jafar on that point.

Cassidy hummed as she looked over one of the duel monster posters, "This sounds like a wonka bar like thing." she said after a minute.

Jafar blinked curiously when he heard her comment, and leaned over to whisper in her ear. "Ehm, I hate to sound like the general retard, but... what is a wonka bar?" There was another modern term...

There was a prompt giggle fit that was becoming a pattern, whenever Jafar said a new idiom that Cassidy couldn't help laughing at. The spell caster seemed to know the pattern by now, and sighed quietly.

"I said something modern again, didn't I?" He whispered, though he couldn't help but smile a little all the same.

Recovering, Cassidy glanced up and then read the poster aloud, since the translator spell from before didn't cover written words and Jafar had yet to absorb that information over the bond yet. "It says that there's a contest, for an exclusive costume party in a month or so. Find that card," She pointed to a display picture of the card with what looked to be and elven dancer. "In a pack and you can go."

Jafar seemed faintly amused by this. "Well... that's probably a good promotional thing... I guess?" He paused to consider it. "Wonder why it's so exclusive though... and why people have to wear costumes for it... oh well." He glanced at the poster with curiosity before just shrugging a little. "Eh."

"Its a marvelous promotional gig," Cassidy agreed, motioning to the... _wall_ of trading cards and other displays. "The 'exclusive' is added probably to add to the charm, and it says here that there's a prize for the best costumes. A fairly large one at that."

"A prize?" Jafar repeated with curiosity. "...people get prizes for dressing up?" He looked at the wall of cards, seeming rather curious now. He wondered just how many 'familiar faces' he might end up seeing later because of this game.

"Well, if its a contest." Cassidy nodded as she moved to poke at a few starter packs, and eyed a box set...that had a blue Dark Magician on it.

Well, now, that was tempting for obvious reasons. One of the biggest was standing beside her.

Jafar saw the box as well, an eyebrow raising slightly. "...that's interesting." He smiled faintly as he considered the possibilities. "...I wonder if there's a card for every monster..."

"I'm not sure, I know there's hundreds. At least that's what Simon said." The girl reached for that box, unable not to- and it was only ten dollars on sale so... not bad. She scanned the smaller starter packs.

Jafar merely watched with curiosity. After all, choosing was up to the master, not the ones that served him, or in this case, her.

The paper witch trailed finger tips over the starter packs as she rose, unaware of the spike of shadow magic that reached out. It was reacting to her aurora, soft whispers of voices as a few cards that weren't just that stirred, as if watching. Jafar, however, did feel the spikes of magic, and he frowned somewhat. He didn't like what he was feeling, and as such, he leaned closer and whispered. "I'm getting an odd feeling from some of these..."

"Hm?" Cassidy looked up, about to try leaving it up to random chance to pick the packs, "What is it?"

The spell caster grimaced slightly. "Magic." He said softly, pointing out the different packs that had yielded the strange reaction. "Dark magic..."

It took a long moment, but then Cassidy had to know now that she was learning the differences, "Dark...or shadow?" If 'Dark' as she knew it she was going to be running out of the shop claiming she saw a spider to spare the relatively helpless 'normal' humans.

Jafar paused a moment to consider. "...Shadow, actually."

Looking from the cards to the caster and back, then she reached into her inner shirt pocket to pull out Jafar's card. She had a calculating look, before they left her little fuzzy fiend had turned into a card... hmm.

Jafar merely watched in silence, considering the possibilities of the situation.

Putting the card back, Cassidy reached out to pick up one of the random packs. She paused for a moment, hearing faintly herself but Jafar would clearly hear the howling song through the shadows of three happy Silver Fang wolves.

The spellcaster blinked. "...do you hear that?" He asked faintly, his expression showing mild curiosity, and perhaps a touch of uncertainty. He wasn't used to this sort of thing.

"I thought I heard puppies." Cassidy looked around, and glancing out the window.

"I heard wolves." Jafar replied faintly. "And I don't think it's from this realm..." He looked at the pack in question. "...hm..."

Cassidy gave him a worried look, hesitated and reached for another pack. Jafar watched, considering the different traces he was feeling from the different packs of cards as he did so. After a moment, he pointed out a different pack. "That one gives me a good vibe... at least, a good one for your type of magic. It seems light. Lighter than some of the others, at least."

"Are so many really alive?" Cassidy asked, picking up the indicated pack and the one behind it. Or was it just that she, as a mortal magic user, was attracting the shadow monsters?

"The Shadow Realm is fuller than one might guess." He replied simply. "It certainly feels like there are quite a few that are truly alive in their own ways." It made him wonder if he knew anyone linked to the cards he was 'feeling'. He didn't voice this though. He just hoped that none of the cards Cassidy got were the Witty Phantom from earlier. He still hated that Phantom...

Rubbing her arms, Cassidy edged away from the cards, she glanced at the dark one, giggled at his jeans before drifting deeper into the store. Looking for anything with the girl's paper magic that might be useful before bringing her things to the counter.

Jafar blinked and looked at his jeans. "What's so funny?" He asked her quietly as he hurried along after her, careful not to bump into anyone, just in case they could actually feel him. Last thing he needed was to cause an uproar because someone bumped the 'invisible man'.

Had he said that aloud, Jafar would get a bonk on the chest (Cassidy was very short people) and told that his charm was for being un-noticed not unseen. Again. But for now, by the time Jafar managed to make it over to Cassidy again, she was swiping her debit card, and getting and earful from the man behind the desk about Duel Monsters. Jafar stayed quiet as he watched and listened, deciding he'd have to ask Cassidy what the heck a debit card was when there wasn't anyone else around who might question his sanity.

That was probably a good thing to do, as it would have wired out the authors to know the Dar Magician was picking up on the natation again.

Once Cassidy could escape the geek out, as she preferred geeking over _other_ things (magic, transformers Knight Rider...), the young woman all but ran away out of the shop, not noticing what Jafar had in his hands. "Come on...mini-jar." Cassidy gave into impulse and ran down the sidewalk.

The magician blinked before racing after her, absent-mindedly putting his hand in his pocket and leaving the unpaid for pack there when he pulled it out. He caught up easily enough, though he was rather confused about why Cassidy had bolted.

She grinned at him playfully, "Here, hold these place?" She asked offering her packs, comics tucked up under her arm,

"Ehm, sure." He responded, shrugging as he accepted the packs of cards.

"Wish I remembered to bring a bag," Cassidy apologized as she held the two smaller packs, opening the first one she found and flipped through the cards, "Puppies!"

"No problem." He responded before blinking and looking at the cards in question. "Hm?" Pleased to no end, Cassidy held up three Silver Fang cards. Mostly her pleasure was that they seemed to fit, as her last name was Wolfpaw. Jafar seemed amused by this. "Ah, I see. They look quite ready for action, going by the picture."

"You look like you need a hug, in yours." Cassidy shyly teased, looking up into yellow eyes.

Jafar's face tinted faintly red. "Perhaps mine is a bit... Less than intimidating. I was never good at pulling off the stoic spell-slinger sort of look."

"You did pretty good the other day," Cassidy attempted to compliment, leading him away from the main street to one of the many, many coffee shops in town. This was the northwest after all, people had to have caffeine in their veins as much as blood. Although Cassidy was aware that traffic in general seemed too weird out Jafar.

"Yes, but that was because I was legitimately upset." He responded as he walked along with her. "I was referring to the days where it's good to look scary, but not have to prove it."

"Bluffing," Cassidy nodded, glad the taller caster hadn't called her out, or hadn't noticed that his paper witch hadn't actually seen him in Jafar's kick ass glory the day before.

She had been in a giant hat after all.

"Ah, yes, that's the word for it." Jafar agreed. "Yes, I'm not very good at bluffing. Mostly, at any rate."

Cassidy shrugged, not knowing what else to add before looking up and eyeing the over cast sky. She wasn't bothered by it as winter was starting to creep into the region, but it was light enough for now. "Here, let's sit under the overhang instead of the outer tables." This way they were under shelter just in case, but not too close to a lot of people to risk the charm, or to be distracted.

Jafar nodded as he followed her, though when he was about to sit down, he realized he had something in his pocket. He blinked several times as he pulled it out and saw what it was. "Ehm... That wasn't supposed to be there..." He seemed a bit uncertain now, not knowing what to do with the pack he was now holding.

Cassidy missed it, as she had put the cards down on the table and moved to get some chia, with a "guard the booty!" over her shoulder. It might be best for the dark one to just put the cards with the rest it seemed. Maybe Cassidy wouldn't notice the additions (and just maybe that charm was effecting _her_ a bit too...).

Seeing this, and not fully getting what Cass meant by 'booty', Jafar shrugged and set the pack with the others. Besides, he could always figure out a way to make up for it later. Thankfully for Jafar, though unknowingly the glimpse the shop owner would get of the Dark Magician would make up for the inadvertent shoplifting. But that was a few weeks from now. Presently, Jafar merely waited for Cassidy's return, once again humming to himself as he absently looked at one of the Silver Fang cards that'd been unwrapped.

It seemed to be trying to look back, but being stuck in card form wasn't helping any. For the wolf. The dark one might be in for a lesson of teaching his human about shadow magic, and summoning outside of the realm of 'omgPANIC!' reactions.

Jafar gave the wolf a weak smile. "I'll have to do some teaching later, it seems..." He said quietly to himself as he gently set the card down next to the other two wolves. The Dark One would probably highly amused at this, and ready with the wise words of telling the red caster to brush up and study himself.

Cassidy came back at last, she was holding two drinks in hand, and had used a few locks to tie back the rest of her hair for now. Comfortably bundled up still in her two over shits and with a hot drink, she didn't mind sitting outside for a bit. "Umm... I hope you like chia Jafar, I forgot to asked..."

The caster blinked and looked at her curiously. "... What is chai?"

"Um, remember what I drink in the morning?"

"Ah, I remember that, yes." He responded. "So that's what this is... Good to know. And thank you."

The girl sat down, settling and getting ready to find out just what she got from the store in the cards. "I'm going to have to pester Simon to teach me how to play." Cassidy said, and realized at the same time that she really got the cards for... well... defiance in a way, summoning. She glanced up at Jafar thoughtfully, knowing the idea had come from him and saving.

The magician merely smiled pleasantly at her when she looked at him, his expression showing that he was simply happy to be there. "I'm sure he'd be happy to teach you." He said. "He seemed quite enthusiastic about this game."

"When he's not freaking out at seeing a Dark Magician in front of him?" Cassidy asked giving a small smile back

Jafar chuckled quietly. "Yes, that's precisely what I mean." He paused before adding. "He's certainly friendly though, which is a good thing."

"He's a hero too, just doesn't' fight monsters or scary mortal casters," Cassidy said in a mix of pride for her friend and loyalty, as well as some sheepishness.

"Oh?" The caster inquired. "What sort of things does he do? In regard to his hero-ness."

Cassidy tossed a card at him, "He's a firefighter!" She scolded, having already gone through explaining this.

Jafar was about to reply, but instead made a rather sudden, sharp inhale as the card hit him. Without any warning at all, his arms were bound to his sides by a glowing ring of energy. Needless to say, Jafar was far from expecting that.' "Ehm..." He coughed quietly. "I think you might want to check the cards before you throw them at me..."

"What?" Cassidy looked up, _eep_ ed and stood, "What's wrong?!"

Jafar gave an awkward seeming half-smile. "Spell-Binding Circle." He replied. "Simply put... I'm stuck."

The paper witch slipped around the table, reaching out but only to make a face as she touched the ring. It didn't hurt her like it might someone else, and though not really her power, it was very strong magic. All and all, this proved not only could you hit your own monsters with traps... but also proved a prime example of what a 'fail' was to Jafar.

He wasn't afraid to point it out either. "This... Might be an epic fail moment." He commented, chuckling as he struggled a little, though it quite plainly didn't help his case. As such, he settled for smiling at Cassidy, seeming rather amused with the situation at hand.

"I'm sorry!" She squeaked out in a near panic, honestly not sure if she did something that might hurt him. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!"

The magician laughed quietly as he shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He replied cheerily. "I'm not hurt. Just stuck for now... How in Horus' name did one get out of this..." He tried to recall. "... Well, I guess we'll just have to find out. Do you have a 'De-Spell' card? That might do the trick."

It was one of the few times Cassidy kicked her 'running for your life' speed into something other then what it was meant for. It was also a good thing that what she told Simon about most of all modern mortal people was that even if they saw magic happening they wouldn't necessarily _see_ it, as the paper witch used the same skill for finding hiding books into use for finding the mentioned card.

Her squeak though hinted that the wanted card was not there.

Wide brown eyes turned on the dark one, pleading for reassurance again that he was okay.

Her squeak and glance gave away that she didn't have the card. Jafar, however, merely smiled. "I'm fine, Cassidy. A little uncomfortable, but quite fine otherwise. This isn't the first time I got pegged with a Spell-Binding Circle, and it probably won't be the last." He paused to consider something. "Would Simon have the right sort of card?"

"I...have no idea but I'll find out." Cassidy dove for her cell phone and sent a hurried text off. Paused and then sent a second and probably more readable text to her friend. It took a little while, but soon she got a text back, saying that yes, Simon had the card in question, and asking where she was so he could go give it to her. The whole time, Jafar just sat there, enjoying the scenery as though nothing was wrong.

"How long does this...magic card last?" Cassidy asked, her voice on the small side.

"Usually?" He replied. "It lasts until someone takes it off. I haven't ever been stuck in it long enough for it to wear off on its own."

"I... take it off?" the paper witch look at the card, clueless of how to do that though.

"As in, break the spell's hold." Jafar explained with amusement. "That's why a De-Spell is a good plan."

Cassidy sank into her seat, somewhat defeated as she stared at the card in her hand. She looked up again, realized she hand cards propped up in the air and hurriedly took them down and put them into some semblance of order. "I'm sorry Jafar…"

He smiled with amusement. "Oh don't worry about it." He said cheerily. "We'll call it a learning experience and leave it at that."

"Are you _sure_ you're not hurt?"

"The only thing that got hurt is my pride." He replied calmly.

The girl looked at him, still worried but the caster's assurances were working as she looked back down at the cards. A bit calmer she was looking once more for the card to help, automatically sorting them as she did so, then reached for the two box sets, the one she got and the one that Jafar had as well. IT seemed the Charm effected the paper witch to a point for the extra addition didn't seem to click yet.

Jafar merely smiled as he watched her sorting through the cards, trying to forget the fact that he accidentally shoplifted a pack of cards. He decided to opt instead to look around and see what was going on around them. So far, nobody had really seemed to notice any magical shenanigans that'd taken place, and that was a comforting thought. Now all he had to do was wait and hope that Cassidy got a spell-removal card, or that Simon would arrive soon.

In the assorted little piles of cards, at one point two cards seem to be staring at the Dark Magician. The elven dancers on the top seemed to be highly amused at him somehow. The cards themselves proclaimed them as healers, the image on the cars showing a trinity of female dances in a lighted clearing.

Jafar blinked when he saw them. "... well... that's certainly interesting..." He commented with a raised eyebrow. "Cassidy... those elf cards there... does something seem a bit unusual about them to you?"

"Their pretty..." Cassidy looked over, unable to put down the Celtic Guardian as she felt it tingle in her fingers. The feeling was warm and earthy, and had a clear sense of safety. The paper witch was positive that this card was like Jafar, and only waiting to be summoned. Then she took a second look at the card that the dark one was looking at, and despite the situation a spike of playfulness was born, probably reinforced by the whispers of reassurance that only she could hear, "...really pretty, don't you think?"

Jafar blinked several times before shaking his head. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that..." He gave a small shiver. "They're... watching me... it's kind of creeping me out. I know it shouldn't, but considering that I can't really move, it is a little unnerving."

Cassidy held the Celtic Guardian card against her, reminding herself that she was sitting outside a coffee house, not in a forest with strong arms around her. The smell of trees and leaves filling her nose was from the park (though it was winter and the leaves had already dropped...).

"...heheh..." Ah, there's that playfulness as the girl looked between cards and Jafar, feeling no darkness from them like she could feel from the Dark Magician.

Jafar just sat there and gave her a tired seeming smile. "You're just having too much fun with that Celtic Guardian aren't you?" He commented, a mildly teasing tone crossing his voice as he ventured to add. "Does someone have a crush?" It was obvious he was joking, and wasn't meaning harm by it, and the silly little half grin he had on his face only added to the light-heartedness of the comment.

"How did you know who it was?" Cassidy asked, started but not enough to hide the flush of red on her cheeks. "And no... its just...nice." she struggled to explain what only she could feel, being a user of lighter magics.

Jafar chuckled. "Lucky guess." He commented. "...the magical signature suggested it... and I saw you pick that card up." He had a point on that one.

"Oh..." okay, no odd magic things then. The young woman looked up suddenly and stood to go around Jafar and pushed his back as well as the chair, it took almost everything she had to just be able to move him some inches in, then hopped back over to her spot as the rain started.

The magician blinked at this, seeming rather confused. "Eh?"

"You might get really wet..." Cassidy said as she started to put the cards closer together and reached for the other box after putting the Guardian card with Jafar's own card.

"Ah." Jafar responded. "Sorry, my mind was partially off in other places." He took note of where Cassidy put the Guardian card, and chuckled quietly. "Shall I keep my comments to myself about where that card went?"

There was a long pause, and then with a flare of dramatics, producing the Celtic Guardian and Dar Magician card from that inner shirt pocket and waved them at Jafar, before putting them both back. Since not everyone had and pocket like she did, when they were put back it looked like Cassidy put the cards in her bra. All without saying a word.

Jafar just chuckled quietly. "Well, it's nice to know that you keep us close." He teased, even though he knew full well it was an inner pocket and not in her bra.

That was when a vehicle pulled up, and the familiar figure of Simon ran over, ducking for cover nearby and looking at them. "Hey, sorry for taking so long."

"Its not like our home town is that big, it was only twenty minutes," Cassidy assured, still flushing but no longer panicking. "Did you bring the card?"

Simon nodded, pulling the spell card out of his pocket. "Yep, got this one and a few others just in case. Can never be too prepared, yeah?" As he said this, he looked between his card, and Jafar's predicament. Surprising a faint laugh, he handed the card over to Cassidy. "Well, you know what you're doing, so I'll let you handle it.

Jafar merely laughed quietly as he watched.

 _I have no idea what I'm doing._ The paper witch thought as she stood to take the card and moved to the trapped magician. She paused reading, "this says 'enemy cards'...will wit work Jafar?" She asked turning it around to show the caster.

Jafar thought on it a bit. "Well, you hit me with the Spell Binding Circle, and that's supposed to be an attack against enemy monsters... just throw it at me and hope for the best I suppose."

Simon just raised an eyebrow.

Catching his look, the younger caster stood up right and pretended to know what she was doing as she reached out to press the card against Jafar's shoulder. Cassidy waited a moment to see if there was a reaction. Finding none the girl took a deep breath and slowly trickled her magic into the card. Her other hand batted at the shadows that licked at her skirt.

As magic filled the card, the Spell Binding Circle flickered, flashed, and vanished. Jafar's frame seemed to relax a bit, and he smiled as he stretched, "Ah... much better. Thanks, both of you." He said cheerily.

Simon merely nodded, seeming a tad bit weirder out.

Cassidy promptly pounced, wrapping her arms around the silver haired, not quiet man's neck and hugged him, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

The magician blinked, but chuckled faintly as he hugged her back. "It's alright, Cassidy. No harm was done, and we both got some amusement out of it. You teased me about that elf card, I teased you about the guardian card... we're all fine."

Simon seemed amused. "Do I want to know the story behind that?"

"Umm...learning curve." the paper witch offered, remembering the whole thing stared with her tossing a card at Jafar for forgetting what Simon did. "Did I take you away from the station?"

Simon laughed quietly at the explanation. "Nope, you didn't. I had the day off today."

"Thank you for coming," Cassidy said again, sitting down and looking at her semi-sorted cards. "...yeah... want to sit down?"

Simon smiled. "Sure, as long as I won't be a problem, or be interrupting anything." He glanced at the cards and grinned. "I see you went shopping."

"Yeah, kinda..." Cassidy nodded, flushing a bit as she latched onto her chai.

The fireman laughed a little as he sat down, looking at a few of the cards with curiosity. "So, get any good ones? Or are you still not done sorting through them yet?"

"Sorting, still that last box there to go though," Cassidy nodded at the one she was in the process of getting into when the man drove up, "Been making piles by type."

"Ah." He said, smiling a little before blinking as his gaze fell to the elf dancer cards. "Hey Cass, you do know what finding this card means, right?"

"Um, I have healers?" The paper witched offered, holding up the two cards of the same dancers in one hand while sipping her drink.

Simon blinked before laughing. "More like you've got yourself two tickets to some fancy costume party that's only been advertised everywhere those cards are sold."

Jafar seemed amused. "Ah, I knew I'd seen that design somewhere..."

"Like on the poster?" Cassidy asked, tilting her head as she belatedly remembered the poster she translated for Jafar. She frowned at the cards feeling over the energy from them with her other senses. "How common are these?" She wondered aloud.

Simon nodded. "Yeah, that's the one." He then looked at the cards. "To be honest, I really don't know. I don't think there's many of them out there though... It's not like the party is open for absolutely everyone."

"Its a premoshinal thing though, isn't it? To get people to buy more cards?" Cassidy was still frowning, and remembered the reaction Jafar had in the comic shop and the traces of magic. "I wonder..." She looked up at the Dark Magician in modern cloths, for the first time not giggling. "Are Monsters attracted to casters?"

"That is a part of it." Simon responded, thinking it over a bit. "I really don't know how this thing works, to be honest."

Jafar looked at Cassidy when she spoke. "Well, it is a probable theory. It's easier for them to be useful to people when whoever they're with actually knows how to bring them out. I don't fully know the ins and outs of it."

"I would look for another caster, a shadow mage I think is what its called, but I don't know much about the history of this kind of magic." The young woman sighed as she put the cards down and pulled her hair over one shoulder to absent mindedly play with it. Truth be told about the matter, Cassidy wasn't sure if she wanted to meet people who used the Monsters for fighting in a far more real battle, that was far from a simple card game. That made the paper witch instincts want her to run and hide in the protected property of her father's vet clinic. What kind of people would want to do that much violence?

Then came the horrible thought that the woman herself might be as bad for getting the cards. Yet it was curiosity and the nearly subconscious want to get magic cards like those Magical Hats that saved her and Simon, and something to help Jafar... and maybe someone else to hide behind a tiny part of her mind admitted.

Jafar thought over what she said before nodding. "It would make sense, but bear in mind that not all card monsters are of the dark variety." He reached over and carefully picked up one of the elf dancer cards. "This, for example, is far lighter than the card I have." He then gently set the card down, seeming almost as though he were trying to be respectful towards the card. Then again, he would be the one to know better than anyone else the sort of things really happen behind the paper images. Besides, if he'd felt like the dancers had been watching him, he probably didn't want to do something that could be considered harsh or unthoughtful.

"Armph." Cassidy 'said' and dropped her head, hiding under her arms that wrapped around it and heaved a sigh. "Simon?" she asked the table.

The Dark Magician merely looked at her with concern.

Simon, in the meantime, raised an eyebrow. "Yes Cass?"

"...you wouldn't happen to know if there's anyone that uses these shadow magic? or roomer's?" the paper witch asked in a plaintive voice, even though she knew her friend, so new to magics in general, more than likely wouldn't.

Simon thought on it a bit, grimacing a little as he eventually shook his head. "Nobody that I really know of, to be honest. Wish I could be more useful, but I don't know anything about that."

"That's okay," Cassidy sighed again and peeked between the gabs in her hair before sitting back up an pushing it out of her way, "Right. Cards." She looked back at the dancers and back to Simon, "Okay Duel Monster expert, what about these and this party thing?"

"Well," Simon explained, looking at the dancer cards and carefully picking one up. "They're basically the ticket to getting into the party, from what I understand of it. I don't really know the details about how they work into it. As for the party, it's a costume party. I... don't fully know the details, other than dress up as much like one of the duel monsters as possible. Prize for the best costume, etc. The usual sort of thing I guess."

"The poster said something about cash prizes as well as card prizes." Cassidy pressed her lips as she tried to remember what she hadn't paid that much attention to. Then, she perked up, "Is there an official site?" she asked the young man, digging into pockets as she searched for her phone.

"Probably." Simon replied with a small smile. "This sort of big thing generally has a web site."

Jafar seemed confused. "What's a website?"

Simon just blinked at him before seeming to figure it out. "Ah... ehm... it's a techy thing."

"There's that word again..."

"Think of it like a poster," Cassidy tried as she edged closer to Simon so they could search for website on her phone, "Only its digital, um, in here." she showed him her phone, having a feeling that this night was going to be full explaining everything Jafar would see today.

"Hm...alright." The Dark Magician responded, obviously giving everything he was hearing a great deal of thought. "...is that little thing in your hand like that... flash box you showed me earlier?" Flash box must've meant the camera.

Simon was looking at the phone screen curiously, though he raised an eyebrow and gave Cassidy a curious glance when Jafar said 'flash box'.

Saving the search, Cassidy lifted the phone and snapped a picture of Jafar. Flash and all.

Jafar inhaled sharply, blinking and getting a rather startled look on his face, though he quickly recovered. Unfortunately for him, not quite fast enough to avoid getting yet another embarrassing picture. Great. Jafar shook himself a little before asking with surprise. "That's a flash box too?"

Simon just laughed quietly, though he tried to quiet down so he wouldn't seem rude.

"Yes, and its my phone." Cassidy giggled, she was so saving this.

"... I know you told me what a phone was earlier..." Jafar mumbled to himself, thinking a moment before remembering. "Oh yes, the voice projection thing... right? You talk into it, and then someone talks back?"

Simon was finding it harder to stay quiet, but was still managing to stay under control.

The paper witch nodded, "Okay, now... lets see what this contest has..." She looked down and swatted at a curling shadow on her skirt again, "Hey!"

Simon blinked, not sure what she was getting bothered at. "Eh?"

"Don't you see them?" Cassidy asked, surprised since Simon should have had some time to get used to magic. Then again... maybe he couldn't see shadow magic.

Simon raised an eyebrow as he looked Cassidy over, expecting to see some sort of bug. However, his face ended up paling a little, his eyes widening a little as he asked awkwardly. "A-are you smoking? Wh-what is that stuff?"

Jafar figured it out now. "Ah..." He said quietly, sounding faintly grim.

"They tickle!" Cassidy squeaked, having been flustered at the shadow wisps all day after leaving her home property.

Simon's expression showed utter confusion. "Th-that didn't explain what they are..." He said awkwardly.

Jafar looked at him. "They're just whips of shadow." He explained calmly, as though this wasn't anything to be too bothered by. "It's nothing major, really."

Simon made some sort of funny, almost gurgled noise, but didn't say anything intelligible.

"Its the same kind of magic that Jafar uses," Cassidy explained, and by that fact alone was trusting that the shadows weren't going to hurt her.

Simon gave a small nod as he slowly got a grip on himself. "Okay... so it's just kind of... velcro'd onto you because of him? Or am I confused?"

"I... I have no idea," Cassidy admitted, looking down and then glancing at Jafar, "Other than on Jafar I don't see them at home."

The Dark Magician had to pause to consider the situation as well. "...I'm almost afraid to suggest it, but should you ask your grandmother about it? Or... would that be a potentially hazardous thing to do?"

Cassidy hesitated, unsure for she still hadn't told her shaman grandmother about her new bond with the dark one. Nor that the paper witch had managed to use shadow magic at all. "I'm not sure if she would know, and it seems like a bad idea to boot." The girl glanced at Simon, as he knew Nana as only an odd quirky woman with a big walking stick and a pet raven.

Sure enough, Simon seemed utterly confused, clearly not knowing what was so scary about Nana.

Jafar, on the other hand, gave a small nod. "That's why I was a bit uncertain of the idea. I have no argument with your grandmother, but to be fully honest with you, she gives me the creeps like no other... well, save for that one time when..." He trailed off, as though realizing this may not be a good story to tell his companions. As such, he gave an awkward half smile. "Well, you get the point, anyway. Your grandmother makes me nervous."

Cassidy blinked up at Jafar with a raised eyebrow, in the back of her mind she was remember when Simon met her Nana, getting the ' _what_ are your intentions to my grand baby?' talk not long after they met viva a local (community center) comic-con. Struggling not to chuckle she nodded and took a sip of her drink to hide the smile.

Jafar gave an involuntary shiver as he thought about when he met Nana for the first time. He just couldn't get that image of her -in his opinion- unnerving stare out of his mind whenever he thought about the elderly lady.

Simon, on the other hand, asked awkwardly. "Okay, are we talking about the same grandmother? Because I'm not sure what's going on right now..."

"Magic runs in my family," Cassidy said, "I've told you all along. Nana is a shaman now, instead of just a caster, she has a lot of power behind her. And she...kinda doesn't like Jafar."

Simon thought that over. "Oh right... heh, didn't think about that." He then paused, seeming confused. "Why doesn't she like Jafar? He seems perfectly reasonable to me... it's not the hat is it?"

Jafar couldn't help but choke on a quiet chuckle. Simon had so much to learn it was almost comical. He then flushed very faintly red when he realized he wasn't much better off.

"Do you remember what I was telling you about _sight_ when I gave you those charms?" Cassidy asked.

Simon thought back a bit. "...Um... not fully... I know you said something, and I know I thought it was important, but for some reason my brain didn't hold onto it."

"It's understandable." Jafar commented absently, his gaze fixed on his hands, which were now clasped together and resting on the table in front of him. "Stress makes it easier to forget things."

The paper witch how ever reached over and Gibbs-slapped Simon on the back of the head. " _This_ time pay attention young man. This is in the 'life or death' section of your homework, right up there with your firefighter training."

Simon winced when he was hit, rubbing the back of his head as he murmured awkwardly. "Yes boss... look, I didn't mean to forget it, it just... kinda got lost somewhere..."

Jafar glanced up when he heard the sound of Cassidy's hand colliding with Simon's head, but smiled faintly when he figured out that nothing was wrong.

"There's sight, and then _sight_ of being able to see magic." Cassidy started, then pointed to Jafar, "Now, what do you see with you look at him."

Simon paused before blinking. "Oh wait, I remember now!"

Jafar started to laugh quietly. "Well, at least he can remember things quickly."

The black haired girl rolled her eyes, "The point is you don't have much _sight_ but maybe a little since you can see my cranes. So you can't see or feel Nana's aura."

Simon gave a small nod. "That will get stronger the more I'm exposed to magic though... right?"

"I'm not sure," Cassidy admitted, "I don't know many who know of a case like yours. Like I said before most people just don't see, and can run smack into Jafar in robes and not _see_ even without the charm I gave him."

Simon seemed faintly curious about this. "So I'm one of those random special cases that's just weird?"

"Well, its not rare..." Cassidy tried to assure, "but I'm saying in my experience with people are either they know about magics," She motioned at the modern dressed Dark Magician, "And those that don't." She waved at coffee shop they were beside, and those inside that hadn't seen or reacted to the use of Duel Monster cards with real magic.

"Ah..." Simon said quietly. "Sounds simple enough... in a kind of complex way."

"You're just lucky," the paper witch smiled, "Have you been keeping up in your log-diary?"

Simon nodded. "Yep. There's not a great deal in it though. I figure there'll be more in time."

"its also good theropy," Cassidy offered with a sheepish smile.

Simon nodded, laughing a little as he commented. "Yeah, I agree on that one. Certainly was helpful to help get my thoughts sorted after what happened the first time I met Jafar."

Nodding in agreement the paper witch sneaked a glance at the Dark Magician as she nudged Simon with her phone to see if she had the right place for the Duel Monster contest, "There is several cash prizes for the costume party, as well as card-prizes from single cards to random lots of 400 to ...1,000? Well, I guess since their the makers of the card game..."

Simon blinked before looking over. "Hm... yep, looks like the right spot. Those are huge prizes though... sounds interesting."

Jafar was now watching them again, his expression showing curiosity.

"Most of this event seems to be around the costumes, as well as displaying new cards for the next year, through there's duels as well with Kaibacorp tech." Cassidy reported as she continued to read, "Its a weekend long it seems."

Simon seemed amazed. "KaibaCorp's getting in on this? That's a pretty big deal if they're involved. Wow, you're so lucky that you get to go."

"...Simon?" Cassidy arched an eye brow up at the fire fighter. She held up the _two_ cards for him to see again.

Simon blinked as he looked at the cards curiously. "...yeah? You've got two, that means you and Jafar... right? Or am I missing something?" Apparently he wasn't always quick on the uptake.

"Jafar has his _own_ card." The girl looked up at the dark one to see if he was picking up on her train of thought. Jafar didn't fully seem to be following, but he shrugged slightly and tilted his head towards Simon, who seemed utterly lost. After a moment Cassidy face palmed, "He doesn't need a ticket." She said to give the two another chance to figger out.

Jafar seemed to clue in quickly, and he smiled a little as he nodded, showing he got it.

Simon, on the other hand, didn't get it until a little while later. "OH!" His face went a little red as he realized it.

Cassidy offered one of the cards to Simon, "Would you go with me? Maybe we can find a shadow mage..."

The young man blinked several times, his face going red for other reasons as he gave a weak smile. "S-sure. I-I'd love to go, actually... th-thanks Cassidy."

Jafar eyed Simon with curiosity, trying to figure out why he was blushing, though he had a guess as to why. He didn't voice his thought though, nor did he show it on his face. After all, he didn't need to make things more awkward if he was right.

His paper witch was smiling as she gave only of the elven dancer cards to the young man.

"Take a deep breath Simon, I can't used two cards for one ticket and you're the only one I know that knows this game," She smiled, patting her friend on the knee as she started to look at the registration set up on her phone.

The young man gave an awkward laugh as he accepted the card, looking it over a little before smiling even more. "Man... now I've got to figure out a costume, eh? I'll have to look through my cards and see what I can afford to try..."

Jafar raised an eyebrow as he looked at Simon. He considered the possibilities, though to anyone else he probably just seemed like he was sizing the young man up. "...you're going to be a hard one to place." He concluded finally. "But I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"I miiiight have an idea..." Cassidy pressed her lips together in a thoughtful, if nervous line. She was staring at Jafar as she fiddled with the lid of her cup.

"Oh?" Simon asked, sounding hopeful as he looked at her. "What's your idea?"

Jafar seemed curious as well, his gaze also turned to Cassidy.

"We didn't actually by what Jafar's wearing," She motioned to the monster, a flush of color on her cheeks like the first time she saw him like this. Caster or no, Jafar was a monster, and he had the strength and iron muscles under his armor before, that now were more exposed thanks to his new shirt. The Charm used to make him 'un-noticed' was being well worked not to effect men but mostly any woman that glanced over.

Simon blinked a few times. "Oh right, he sort of just came with that..." He then blinked again. "Wait... you're saying we just get someone else from his neighborhood to lend me something? Or did I totally miss the point?"

Jafar, in the meantime, seemed a little confused about why Cassidy's face had flushed. He didn't really seem to understand the fact that he was, to word it simply, eye candy.

Cassidy faced palmed again, took a deep breath herself as she reminded herself that Simon was not used to magic. "No, Jafar is a higher level of caster then I am, a lot higher. He was able to basically copy the cloths he say and trade it with the tunic and leggings he had on under all those robes. I'm assuming," She looked up at the silver haired Dark Magician, "That you might be able to do that for others as well?"

Simon seemed to understand that, and he looked curiously at Jafar as well. The dark one chuckled quietly as he nodded. "I can probably do that, yes. It shouldn't be overly complicated to achieve."

"Ta-da." Cassidy said, pleased but quiet as she smiled.


	9. Chapter 9

Added note: / _Mental communication-dialog between a Monster and Caster is like this._ /

* * *

Cassidy took a deep breath of the evening air, heavy with humidity as it was raining. As it tended to do in the winter of the northwest, at least it wasn't windy right now. The paper witch pulled her hood down more and after a glance at the main house started off in her walk. Though it was dark already, it was only five so she wasn't too worried as she fallowed the path to the outer parts of the property, aiming for outside of it.

Once crossing the border, and out of the safety of the protected grounds would she be able to call on the shadows without alerting her grandmother.

Moving a hand, Cassidy touched her new Deck, Simon having helped her put it together a few days ago at the coffee shop. There were a few cards that she kept against her in an inner pocket, and they pulsed ever so softly in time with what felt like a heartbeat, the echo strong in the deck itself. It was strange but Cassidy was assuming it was normal given that she could feel the magic of several of the cards.

After a little while, a soft, familiar voice echoed quietly in Cassidy's mind. / _Is it safe for me to come out yet? Or is Nana still nearby? I'd rather not show up and get into trouble with her._ /

Cassidy blinked, tilting her head as her steps slowed a bit, / _Um, not yet, I'm still on the property._ /

 _/Ah._ _/_ The voice replied, sounding as though he was okay with waiting longer. / _Thank you for letting me know._ _/_

 _/This is a little weird,_ _/_ Cassidy admitted as she hopped over a puddle and avoided some roots.

 _/What is?_ _/_ He inquired, sounding faintly amused. / _The fact that we're talking without me physically being there, or the fact that there's a voice in your head because I'm not physically there talking to you?_ _/_

"Voices in my head," Cassidy said aloud with a soft snicker, reaching out with her other senses to feel for the border. Some part of her aware of a woven form escorting her, one of the guardian spirits. "I guess this will just taking getting used to."

The voice- Jafar's voice to be precise -laughed quietly at her response. / _Yes, I'm sure it will. All things take time, after all. Refresh my memory; where were we going?_ _/_

 _/Outside the property, where Babo can't see us and tell Nana I'm using Shadow magic,/_ Her cheeks flushed a bit for having to hide this new skill, but again with the way her grandmother was overprotective since Cassidy wasn't apart of a coven... She sighed, skipping over another puddle.

 _/I understand._ _/_ The Dark Magician replied, his tone slightly grim, betraying the fact that he wasn't very fond of the idea of being caught by anyone who would go tell Nana about what was happening. It'd been made clear before that Jafar had understood the reason that Nana was so cautious, though he had also said one or two things that suggested he thought the protectiveness displayed by Nana was a little too smothering and fearful of shadow magic. Then again, considering what it was generally affiliated with, it made sense that Nana would be leery.

Cassidy reached out to where she could sense the guardian, sure she could feel fur under her fingers. Then she walked over the border, sucking in a breath as she left the protection of the old magic, and felt now the shadows creeping in on her as if they had been waiting for her to step out.

Rubbing her arms through her rain coat, the paper Witch started walking again, to put a bit more distance for a safety buffer just in case. Jafar was quiet while this happened, though his presence seemed there still. Having nothing to say at the moment, he appeared to opt for the 'quiet watcher' approach for the time being.

Reaching into her jacket and shirt pocket, Cassidy pulled out two cards, flipping them over to show the red Dark Magician and the magical hats card under it. Chewing on her lip, the paper witch looked up and around, searching for any dark wings of ravens or crows before holding Jafar's card out.

She hesitated and then poured her magic into it, "Dark Magician come forth!" She commanded, and by accident the magic card in her other hand caught the magic too so she ended up squeaking as she fell into the hat at Jafar's feet.

The Dark Magician smiled faintly as he formed, though he blinked a few times when he saw the hat in front of him. Raising an eyebrow, he lightly tapped it with his staff, an attempt to remove the hat without causing any ill effects to the one hidden within.

"I meant to do that!" Came the voice from within, and after a pause the hat dissolved under the magician's staff, vanishing back into shadows to reveal the girl just sitting up with the hat's mini Kuriboh in her arms as it still held the ball of light. She eeped softly and stood back upright to avoid landing in a puddle, than shivered, "Raven, it was a lot warmer in the hat!"

Jafar chuckled softly at her remark as he looked her over. "I'm sure it was. It was probably a lot warmer in there too." He glanced around, blinking as a particularly large drop hit the tip of his nose. "Mind my inquiring why you chose to do this in a rainstorm?"

"The Fire-witches are about done practicing, it should be over in a few minutes." Cassidy grinned, "So it should be, if not stopping, than dropping back."

That seemed to confuse the dark one greatly. "Fire... and water?" He inquired. "But those two elements generally do not mix well. Or is there a gimmick that I am unaware of?"

"No, its the reason," Cassidy beamed up at the red robed monster, "Fire-witches live around here because of all the rain in the winter. Its for their kids and their own training. For the health of everyone involved, if fire based casters are practicing with flames, wouldn't it be better to do so when it's raining and the land is soaked, or in a dry landscape?"

The Magician thought it over before giving a small smile. "Ah. I hadn't considered it that way. When you put it like that, it certainly makes more sense than how the theory originally presented itself to be."

"Young fire based casters tend to set themselves, things and sometimes people around them on fire." Cassidy explained as she walked the few steps over to the towering monster, "But it should ease up soon." She freed one hand and motioned him to fallow her down the path.

He gave a small and understanding nod as he followed after her, a faint chuckle escaping. "Ah yes... young students do tend to be rather flammable..." His face went a little red, as though he himself had, at some point, done something similar to setting himself on fire.

Maybe it was a good thing it was dark, and the only light was coming from the mini Kuriboh lower in Cassidy's arms as she used it and the fuzzball's light to see the path in front of her feet. As for the Dark Magician, he merely glanced around a bit before shaking his head a little, water spraying out of his hair as he did so. He then glanced around a bit, seeming amused with the surroundings in general, and nothing massively important.

"Here we are!" Cassidy called as she walked in under a park's, half building. One with a roof overhead and a two and half walls. "See?"

Jafar looked around as he hurried after her. "Well, that's certainly better than being in the rain." He smiled a little as he said this, leaving his staff to briefly hover beside him on its own as he wrung the water out of his hair and turned his gaze to Cassidy.

She was blinking at his staff wonderingly, still so very tempted to reach out and touch again, but kept her hands holding the mini-Kuriboh. Though had to hold it away from her as it shook off and promptly fluffed up even more than normal.

The Dark Magician chuckled as he watched this, taking hold of his staff again as he commented. "Cute, aren't they?" He seemed to be amused about the situation Cassidy just found herself in.

"Glad I'm not allergic to fur." Cassidy started, then jumped as something big and furry, and wet, and rather grumpy leapt up onto Jafar's shoulder guards. Claws shook himself free of most of the clinging rain water, glaring at both in a truly only feline insulted way.

The dark one reacted with remarkable speed, nearly swatting Claws off, though he caught himself before he did anything overly dangerous, and quickly relaxed. "Perhaps..." He said quietly. "Perhaps it would be best if Claws was a bit more careful where he jumped without warning."

 _"Hiiissss!"_ The guardian feline 'said' from his new spot on a ledge in the wall, having all but teleported there while Cassidy flailed in response to Jafar's reflexes.

"He was supposed to stay home!" The girl said exasperated.

Jafar shook his head, sighing as he looked at Claws. "Well, it seems that he didn't want to listen." He then paused before looking at Cassidy, and his voice echoed quietly in her mind. / _He won't tell on us, will he?_ /

"He'll complain to his new girlfriend, I'll bet." The girl guessed, fully trusting her guardian spirit as his loyalty to her alone over the years.

The dark one laughed faintly in her mind. _/I was meaning, would he tell your grandmother about us./_ He responded, not really knowing if he could trust the cat with what they were presently up to. Of course, he hadn't known Claws for very long, so it made sense.

 _/I don't think so,_ _/_ Cassidy offered back, hesitantly speaking silently, still not used to it, _/And Nana speaks bird, not cat./_

 _/Ah./_ Jafar replied. _/So even if he tried, he couldn't really tell then._ _/_ He smiled a bit. "Well, that's reassuring."

 _/I wouldn't put it past Claws to speak English if he truly thought I was in danger._ _/_ She added, and then pulled out another card she'd been keeping as close as Jafar's and her now collection of white wolf (Silver fangs or something like that?). "I still want to try summoning something other than you... no offence!"

The Dark Magician laughed as he shook his head. "I don't mind at all. The more you familiarize yourself with your cards, the better off you will be."

"I'm still not sure what I'm doing." Cassidy sighed.

Jafar smiled a bit. "Probably just do the same thing that you did to get me out here."

Cassidy nodded, paused and then turned to eye her guardian, pointing at him as the Kuriboh floated up above to let its light spill over them all, "No scratching faces Claws, I mean it!"

The dark one merely watched with amusement as Cassidy scolded the cat, or at least warned him sternly. He didn't laugh though, merely waiting and taking his shoulder armor off to shake the water off of it before putting it back on.

Pushing a most of her doubts aside, the girl looked up at Jafar and the rest of those doubts oddly slid away. She looked at the card in her hand and, like before her energy flowed, a little easier now that she wasn't afraid or nervous. The Shadow surged up, coiling and formed another being that was nearly as tall as Jafar, and with a slash of a blade the shadow broke and fled as the elven warrior growled as only a Monster could, eyes scanning and locking onto the Dark Magician.

The Celtic Guardian glared for a moment, the grip on his broad sword tightened... and then he heard Cassidy squeak, and the aggression bled away as he turned to look for the first time at his new master, mistress. Apparently he fell in love as much as he could.

Jafar barely showed any signs of hostility, other than sending the Guardian a warning glance when he glared at the spell caster, his own grip tightening only slightly on his staff. When he saw the Guardian relax, however, he smiled and relaxed his hold on his weapon to a more casual one, chuckling faintly as he commented to the Guardian. "Cute, isn't she?"

The girl squeaked again at his words.

Rumbling reassuringly, the elven warrior shifted, hiding his broad sword from sight from the paper witch, letting the blade slid back in its scabbard. "My mistress is most beautiful."

And... there was another squeak.

The Magician laughed quietly as he nodded. "She's as sweet-natured as she is pretty." He commented, smiling as he looked at Cassidy, giving her a small, kind-hearted seeming grin. He loved it when she got all awkward; he thought it was adorable when she was flustered.

Seeming to like the reaction he was getting, or at least kindly amused by it, the Celt Guardian stepped over closer, though part of his attention stayed on Jafar just in case. The elven warrior knelt down, reaching out to take Cassidy's closer hand that held his card. Rumbling again, the sound a contrast to that elf charm as he kissed the heal of the paper witch's hand, and then wrist before folding his other hand over hers, now between his hands.

"My beautiful little mistress," the blond elf said, looking up into wide brown eyes, "My sword and my strength are yours, I will defend you and fight for you."

Cassidy _eep_ ed.

Jafar couldn't help but chuckle a little more, seeming rather amused, though he politely kept his distance. He wasn't sure quite what to say, so instead, he absently took his armor off and shook off what water was left on it, and then set it aside so he could wring some of the water out of his robe.

Please to no end on his part, the elven warrior finally looked back at Jafar once Cassidy had calm down from blushing and squeaking. "Dark one," he inclined his head.

Jafar blinked as he looked up mid-wringing of his robe, and smiled a little as he let go of it and gave a polite bow of his head in return, "Guardian." He said, his tone as polite as any gentleman would've sounded. "It's a pleasure to meet another ally."

"An honor to have at least one in the same...deck." the elf smirked, glancing down at Cassidy, who promptly started to blush again.

The dark one chuckled quietly as he glanced at Cassidy before looking back at the Celtic Guardian. "I could say the same to you." He replied. He then looked at Cassidy again and smiled a bit more. "Is something the matter?" He inquired, though he figured it was just because of all the attention she was getting.

"Umm...no..." The girl tried, and admitted to herself that maybe, just maybe the female part of her mind just died as she took in the forms of the Monsters. Damn if they were human and on a beach she was sure every woman and gay man would be buying them enough drinks to knock out even _Raven!_

Jafar smiled as he gave a faint nod, "Very well then. As long as you're okay, I'm happy." He then resumed his fussing about getting the water out of his robes, or at least most of it. Eventually though, he just gave up and put his armor plates back on.

Arching an eyebrow at the taller caster, the Celtic guardian wondered why Jafar didn't use his aura or power to help himself with that. Then at the same time glade he had elven made cloths.

"What's your name?" Cassidy asked.

The monster blinked several times, surprised, and then glanced over at the Dark Magician to see if he heard right.

The magician returned his gaze giving a faint smile. "You heard her correctly, friend. She did just ask what your name was."

"...Hadir." the elven warrior said slowly.

 _Like Haldir from the Lord of the rings..._ Cassidy thought and smiled, before stepping up and wrapping her arms around Hadir's neck to give him a hug. There was admittedly difference in this first meeting was the feeling of safety that the guardian had given off even before being summoned, being a creature of light and like that of Cassidy's own magic.

Jafar, in the meantime, merely stayed quiet now as he watched, a faint smile tugging at his lips before he glanced around, just in case someone was around and watching who really shouldn't be. Could never be too careful, after all.

Though there wasn't anyone seeming to be around at all, not with it being dark and still raining, though lighter than some odd minutes before.

"My lady?" Hadir asked with concern behind the magician, reaching out to catch and hold Cassidy steady. The young caster had to lean against him, taking deeper than normal as she struggled against the drain of energy from summoning two monsters close together and in a way keeping them in her world.

"I'm okay..."

Claws snorted from his spot on the wall.

"...mostly okay..."

Jafar's gaze turned quickly to Cassidy when he heard the conversation, having taken note of the lighter rain, but deciding it was mundane compared to what was presently happening. "That isn't very re-assuring, Cassidy." He said quietly, moving a little closer so he could get a better look at the human. "You don't exactly look 'okay' either..."

She was pale under her normally darker tan complex, but wasn't trembling. Cassidy tugged on her braid and didn't resist as Hadir put her onto one of the wooden bench. "I guess this is just a lot of this shadow magic to use at once..." she said softly, as if thinking aloud, "At least I'm not passing out like last time?" the paper witch glanced up at the two monsters.

Jafar sighed faintly. "You aren't passing out, but you don't really look like you're far from it." He responded with a small grimace. "My suggestion is don't try any more magic until you're feeling better. No summoning magic, at the very least. The last thing we need is for you to end up hurting yourself because of a power drain."

"The Shadows are not gentle dark one, as we both know," Hadir said, his voice dropping to a low rumble as he softly ran one hand down the girl's hair, "Calling the magician first my lady, and then I may have been pushing your shields thin against the shadows."

The Dark Magician gave a grim nod, showing he agreed with what had been said. "It probably was." He murmured, thinking it over a bit before sighing faintly. "I should have said something about it before hand, but I forgot that she didn't have the same strength against them as I do. It's easy to lose things like that over time in the Shadow Realm." He shook his head. "I need to be more careful." He then turned his gaze to Cassidy. "Forgive me. I was not quite able enough to tell you about this possibility ahead of time."

"Everything is new to us all," Cassidy said thoughtfully, "I should have known better than to try right away," She looked guilty at the Guardian, and when he didn't seem offended continued, "Since this is a new kind of magic to me. I'm old enough to know that."

The dark one thought her answer through before giving a small nod. "Perhaps we shouldn't blame anyone then. Lessons are born from mistakes, and from what I can see of it, this mistake wasn't a supremely bad one to make."

"At least I'll get a good night's sleep," the paper witch gave a shy smile to the two monsters as the Celtic Guardian settled down beside her, letting Cassidy latch onto him and heat leach through her rain coat despite his armor. In fact the elf pulled his cloak around to start curling it around his mistress. "Thank you... now what do we do?"

Jafar couldn't help but feel a faint twang of jealousy, but quickly forced it aside, knowing full well that he'd already cuddled Cassidy far more than Hadir did. "I am uncertain." He replied after giving it some thought. "Do we even know what the time is?"

Shuffling to pull her cell phone out, Cassidy looked, baffling the elf, "6:40."

The dark one seemed a little confused too. "Flash boxes can tell time as well as... Whatever else you've done with that?" He inquired, perplexing lacing his voice.

Of course, Cassidy dissolved into giggles, hiding her face to try and lessen the rudeness of laughing at the two monsters. But a peek up at Hadir still perplexed expression, she was giggling again.

Jafar sighed in defeat as he turned his gaze to the Celtic Guardian. "Apparently that strange little device can do almost anything other than magic." He commented, though he paused before adding. "Unless technology is some strange new magic... I still don't know what that device is called, but it can flash and save images as well as project voices. It just doesn't make sense."

"Not yet," Cassidy smiled as she looked up, still pale but she didn't seem as tired, "And no, modern technology isn't magic, though I admit sometimes it seems like it."

"Not yet?" He inquired. "You mean those little things have something they can't do? Well that's interesting... then again, I doubt that could be used to cut things, so I shouldn't be overly surprised..." He shook his head before laughing quietly at the silliness of the whole thing. "Ah, so much to learn still... this world is fascinating."

"Indeed," the elven warrior said, watching as the big cat hopped down the wall until Claws landed on his shoulder, then dropped down to drape himself over Cassidy's shoulders.

The Dark Magician smiled a little as he glanced at Hadir. "What you've seen so far isn't even half of what there is. I've been here several times now, and even still, something new shows up to make me confused, and make Cassidy laugh about it."

The Guardian lifted a shoulder in a shrug, "The mistress' magic and aura are closer to elven magics then the shadows, I have been watching."

"Watching?" Cassidy eeped, looking up at Hadir again. but relaxed as the reassuring smile she got.

Jafar thought that over a little, nodding faintly as he said after a moment. "Yes, her magic is closer to elven magic than the type of magic I generally deal with. I feel that it's a good thing she has you now as well; I probably won't be the greatest support for her in regard to magical similarities."

"I know a some paths for that should be unused for now," Cassidy took Hadir's offered hand to stand back up, "but like I keep saying, normal people don't /see/ magic most of the time even if they run smack into it."

"Ah, true enough." The dark one said, seeming a little embarrassed, though it faded fast. "I keep forgetting that."

"Very well," The Guardian stood behind Cassidy, "Even if a mortal sees us, there is not much they could do against two Monsters." He said proudly.

Jafar started to laugh quietly. "I know that, Hadir. I was more worried for the human's mental state than our own health. The only human I've officially met, other than Cassidy, didn't handle meeting me too well... then again, the circumstances probably had a hand in that. Poor fellow was in a right state... anyway, that's the past."

"...yeah, lets not think about that," Cassidy agreed, rubbing her arms as she started off, only to squeak in surprise as the elven warrior stooped to pick her up. After an awkward moment, with Claws protesting, she found herself settled on his arms and much closer to eye level of both. After a moment she smiled and relaxed against the elf while looking up and over at Jafar.

For a brief moment, Cassidy would've caught a small glint of jealousy, though going by the faintly sheepish expression that replaced it, Jafar was already getting after himself for feeling the way he briefly had. Instead, he chose to look around, trying to figure out which direction to go. "...which way?" He finally asked.

Pointing to the left, the paper witch smiled as she spoke, "This way, the path leads up the hill on the back of our property, you can see a lot of the town from there."

The dark one turned and looked in the direction that was indicated. "Would going on your property like this be wise?" He inquired. "Or would it trigger your grandmother to show up? Just out of curiosity."

"Nana can't move _that_ fast," Cassidy sighed, "There's a bit of a difference between summoning shadows in the property and you walking though. There's Guardian spirits that do the protecting, and they already let you in before."

"Ah, I see." Jafar responded, giving a small, awkward seeming smile, virtually identical to the one that was visible on his card. "Perhaps I fear your grandmother more than I really ought to."

"Elder casters are often as experienced as powerful," Hadir offered, but seemed to be more amused at Jafar then anything as he half led the way.

The magician glanced at Hadir as he walked alongside him. "I know that. That is part of why she makes me uneasy. That and considering the sort of look she gave me when I first met her... I doubt she'd be overly excited to see me again."

"We are Monsters, and they are mortal."

"...I don't think either of you are monster-like." Cassidy offered, looking between them and smiled a bit awkwardly herself at the soft affectionate look she got from the elf.

Jafar smiled a bit as he looked at Cassidy. "I appreciate your thought." He said quietly. "It's rather refreshing to be referred to as something other than a Monster, even if that's technically what I am now." He then looked at Hadir. "You are right about that. We are a bit... out of the ordinary to the human eye."

"That can See." Cassidy piped in, unable to help it.

The Guardian holding her chuckled, "Yes, my lady, for those that do See." he agreed, pausing to look to the side and then shifted as if about to step off the path. He paused to look at Cassidy for permission, getting only a blink in return.

The magician laughed faintly at Cassidy's comment, though he too looked curiously at Hadir. "Is something wrong?" He inquired.

"May I see...?"

"Of course," Cassidy said promptly, suddenly understanding why she was being stared at, grinning reassuringly. The elf dropped down to his knees to set her back down on her feet, waiting a moment to be sure the girl had her balance and Jafar was a bit closer. Then as Hadir moved to investigate the plant life, Cassidy looked up shyly as she had to lean on the Dark Magician, still tired.

Now Jafar understood what had been going on, and he chuckled quietly. Taking this chance to scoop Cassidy up into his arms, he smiled at her good-naturedly before turning his gaze to watch Hadir for a moment or to, finding the situation rather amusing. His face went red though when the fleeting thought of 'I got the better deal out of this' crossed his mind. Promptly shaking that out of his head, he stood up a little straighter, though still gently holding Cassidy close to his frame so she wouldn't fall out of his arms.

As Cassidy squeaked, her feline guardian spirit rumbled then batted at Jafar for picking his person up- thus him. Thankfully he couldn't reach the older caster's face; but Jafar's hair was in a way combed.

The caster merely glanced at Claws. "She's a little too tired to be on her feet right now." He commented, thus seemingly justifying himself for picking her up. That had been a good part of why he'd picked Cassidy up anyway, after all. He just decided not to say what the other, much smaller part of it was. He was already inwardly ashamed of himself for being 'so silly' about who got to hold her.

Though maybe it wasn't so silly...

Besides it may also be worth it as Cassidy scratched her cat reassuringly to distract him while at the same time leaning against the dark one's chest. She didn't mind the armor either, though it was temping to hide under his robes if the weather wanted to start rain again.

While this happened, Jafar merely smiled, quite happy that Cassidy was relaxing and leaning against his frame. He kept his eyes out for trouble though, all the same. One never knew when or where danger could come from, be it in the human world or otherwise.

"I think Hadir is adopting every other fern," Cassidy said in a low tone so not to disturb the elf as she watched him.

The dark one glanced over at Hadir, chuckling very faintly as he murmured back to Cassidy. "I think he might be. But at least he's enjoying himself."

"There are a lot of healing plants out here." Cassidy nodded, then smiled and patted Jafar's arm for attention as Hadir was starting down the path ahead of them, half on lookout half wanting to explore more.

He blinked when his attention was brought to Hadir, and smiling a bit, he followed after the Celtic Guardian, not wanting to let Hadir wander off too far without Cassidy and him being nearby in case something happened that shouldn't have.

"Where do you go when... well, I hope you're not in the card..." Cassidy asked suddenly.

Jafar shook his head. "We go back to our world until we're called again." He replied with a reassuring smile. "We're not trapped in our cards."

"Oh, good," Cassidy sighed as she recovered from that moment of worry.

"...is that good?"

"It can be." The magician replied with a small smile. "It gives us more freedom when we aren't 'on duty', so to speak. It can be more dangerous, but for the most part it's perfectly fine."

"You reside in the Dark One's castle," The Celtic Guardian pointed out, well able to hear them with his elven hearing. "And do not have to worry about others attempting to burn your tree down."

Jafar glanced at Hadir, nodding a bit. "That is true... hm... I seem to recall something about destroying trees from a long while ago. I wasn't responsible, mind you. At any rate, that's in the past, and thankfully nothing was severely damaged."

"There's normally enough warriors to protect the holy ones," Hadir said as he stood, carefully tucking away another plant as he did so.

The magician nodded slightly. "I'm still trying to figure out how that situation ended up the way it was..." He then shook his head and smiled a little, though not fully sure what else to say.

Cassidy giggled in Jafar's arms then, unable to help it. Even the big cat was giving the two Monsters a feline grin. "I'm sorry..." the girl gasped, "Hearing modern, English contractions in old Egyptian is just..." she giggled again at the once again baffled look on Hadir's expression.

Jafar seemed just as confused as Hadir did. "What did I say this time?" He inquired. "I didn't say 'epic fail', or anything similar... did I?"

"No, contractions," Cassidy tried to explain, "When you shorten and combine two words. Don't you realize you're using them?"

"I am un aware of it..." Hadir said slowly, listening to his words, as well as what Cassidy was saying and how she did. Knowing that through the bond they knew her native words.

It took a little while before he blinked a few times. "Oh... I see what I did. 'I'm' instead of 'I am'... right? Or did I get that wrong?"

"Exactly," Cassidy smiled.

He smiled cheerfully when Cassidy said this. "Ah, excellent. I believe I am getting the hang of this now... somewhat... perhaps." He thought it over a bit before shrugging slightly. "Whatever, I suppose."

"I believe that odd word caused that." Hadir commented as he watched his paper witch dissolved into giggles again.

"Most likely." Jafar agreed, glancing at Cassidy again. "She does get great amusement out of it when I say something... modern I think she said the word for it was..."

"It's mixing!" the girl waved her hands a little, "You'll be speaking that old Egyptian flawlessly, then BAM! An English idoim!"

"... idiom?" He questioned. "... oh, like the strange things I say by accident." He smiled a bit, seeming entertained. "I can always just say that is your fault, you know."

"Its funny!" Cassidy grinned, and decided right then that if they were picking up a new language through her, and it was bleeding through like this... well, it just wouldn't bother her.

"I am glad you find it entertaining." The dark one responded, laughing faintly before glancing around a little, and then looking up at the sky, though whether he was checking the weather, or habitually checking for danger was anyone's guess.

"Someone is near." Hadir suddenly said, attention snapping around as he dropped one hand reflexively down to the hilt on his hip as his sword reformed out of misting shadows.

"What?" Cassidy extended her senses, pushing against the warmth in the back of her mind that was Jafar, in order to get a clear feel. "...That's a fire witch!"

Jafar grimaced as he looked around, his expression turning more serious than it had been moments ago. "What should we do, Cassidy? I am unaccustomed with how you handle fire witches."

"Well, first..." The girl wiggled to be put down.

The magician nodded, carefully and gently setting her down. Her wiggling didn't seem to impeded his progress or skill at being careful, which was probably a very good thing.

"First," Cassidy walked over and put a hand on Hadir's keeping him from drawing the sword, "Fire witches don't attack first unless you do or scare them. Right now more so then ever since their teaching their kids this time of year."

Jafar gave a small nod, his staff in his hand, but held loosely and his overall appearance seeming less than interested in fighting.

Holding a finger to her lips, Cassidy motioned the two to fallow as she threaded her way off the path. Fallowing her senses now and listening for the telltale crackle that meant there was a fire nearby. Hadir of course ghosted silently through the forest, if a bit slower then he would have as he didn't know these woods.

The dark one grimaced a little, shrinking his size down a bit as he followed her silently. He made sure to stay close to Cassidy the whole time, minding his surroundings and keeping both an eye and an ear out for anything that could possibly be moving in on them.

There was a pause, and then without Cassidy see, the Celtic Guardian poked Jafar on the shoulder.

He blinked and glanced over his shoulder, up at the Guardian. He didn't speak, but his expression plainly said what was on his mind. _What_? It wasn't an angry toned 'what' either. It was a confused one.

He was poked again and given an odd look. The elf was used to magic yes, but up until now never seen anything or anyone other than such as the Kuriboh that Cassidy still held, change sizes. The Dark Magician raised an eyebrow before poking Hadir in return, returning the odd look he was given by giving the Guardian a confused one. He didn't really see what was so confusing to Hadir at the moment, not really thinking that it was his own shrinking spell that caused the confusion.

"Caroo!" the Kuriboh yipped as it was tossed back, landing smack onto Jafar's face and clinging. Its light being tucked up under Cassidy's jacket as she rolled her eyes at the two and their poking.

Jafar made a comical, rather muffled and quiet 'ack' sort of noise as he was hit, though he carefully got the creature off his face before looking up at the Celtic Guardian he'd been trying to converse with, shrugging slightly, and looking at Cassidy with a ' _he's not making any sense_ ' sort of expression.

She just rolled her eyes again at the two before pointing ahead, walking over to a log and kneeling behind it. Hadir finally looked away from Jafar, focusing though the darkness of the normal night. After the Shadow Realm the mortal realm was simple.

The elf blinked as he spotted the lights first, nodding at them, "There?"

"Yes," Cassidy smiled as the moving lights came close enough to see them for what they were. Fireballs, being held up and supported by the adult woman in the group by their magics, while laughing kids of different ages ran around in the light.

The Dark Magician looked towards the lights, seeming curious, and interested. A small smile tugged at his lips when he saw the children running around, his expression showing that, though he may have seemed far from it at first glance, he actually was a bit fond of kids.

Hadir suddenly flushed deepening, embarrassed at the sight of one of the woman who stopped in front of their group. The reason was because the fire-witch was dressed only in jeans and the kind of tank-top that was meant for the height of summer, not in winter. The reason being that she was producing more than enough heat that when drops of rain did fall it steamed off her form and hair.

Jafar glanced curiously at Hadir, though he soon gave an amused smile when he figured out what the issue was. He didn't speak though, merely turning his gaze back to the woman and the children who were with her.

"Koou?" A tiny voice asked from Jafar's shoulder.

The dark one looked at the creature on his shoulder. "Hm?" He asked, his voice barely audible to anyone who wasn't right beside him, or in this case, on his shoulder.

The little fuzzy monster fiend wiggled and then hopped into the air, moving as if to go to the lights and movements of the fire-elemental casters.

The Magician blinked a few times before shaking his head. "I don't think that's a wise idea." He said softly before glancing at Cassidy, wondering what she thought of the Kuriboh's idea.

The paper witch stood to catch the fiend, hugging it close but eeped as it started to fuss. "Oy! Who's out there?" One of the fire-witches demanded, stalking closer in response, automatically the kids ran the other way as fire lit on the woman's shoulders and hands, and down her hair. "Paper Witch!" Cassidy yelped standing up and motioning to Jafar and Hadir to stay back.

Jafar frowned at the tone the woman had used, gripping his staff tighter, but looking at Cassidy and giving a small nod, showing that he wouldn't do anything until she told him to, or unless the fire witches attacked.

Cassidy picked up her skirt and moved over to one of the other woman, talking for a few minutes, before suddenly brightening. After an animated talk with one of the fire witches, cell phones where whipped out and numbers exchanged. In the background the kids were relaxing again and one managed to set herself on fire, causing a spazz though she was perfectly fine, as fire witches were fire proof. After excusing herself, Cassidy walked back to the two males, than had to lean against Jafar.

Jafar put an arm around her, his expression concerned, but amused. He had notably jumped when the child had set herself on fire, but he relaxed when he saw things were alright, and as such focused solely on Cassidy. "I see that went well." He observed.

"Yeah," The younger caster nodded, looking even more tired as the Celtic Guardian- still with a faint flush- ghosted back over there. "I think I might be lower on magics then I thought, but Morgan there said she's looking for a coven too!"

The dark one seemed rather intrigued by this. "Oh? Perhaps you can make one together with her? That would be good."

"We would need a third to be a true coven." Cassidy said, chewing on her lower lip.

"Fortunate that you are leaning on a caster then my lady." Hadir said, his tone filled with dry amusement, and he smiled as the paper witch blinked a few times, then looked upside down at Jafar as if realizing this too really for the first time.

Jafar glanced at Hadir before blinking and laughing faintly. "You have a point, Hadir. I hadn't considered that either." He then looked at Cassidy and chuckled a little, now amused as well.

"That could work, even if you are at a higher level... but only if you want to." Cassidy added, still with her head tilted back against him. She wasn't going to force Jafar, or anyone into something.

Jafar chuckled. "It would give me more reason to be in this world, a chance to learn, and a chance to teach. I would be more than happy to."

Cassidy twisted around and hugged the dark one, not minding the hard armor as she gave a happy squeak and a muffled, "Thank you!"

He smiled at her reaction. "Not a problem at all. It will be a good experience for both of us."

Still hugging Jafar, Cassidy smiled and then blinked as her grip loosened, "I think I should go to bed soon."

"I will return to the Shadow Realm to ease your strain, with your leave my lady," Hadir said as he motioned for Jafar to move away from the firewitches, his voice low. The dark one smiled at Cassidy before glancing at Hadir and nodding, slowly moving to follow, though he was ready to catch Cassidy if she fell over because of his moving.


	10. Chapter 10

Added note: _\Communication-dialog between Monsters and spirits are like this.\_

* * *

It was nine pm now, a couple days having passed since Cassidy met Morgan. Things had been relatively peaceful, and this evening was no different... Until Cassidy's cell phone went off.

The paper witch fumbled, fighting back a yawn as she picked up a kitten, paused, blinked, set the white fluffball aside and reached again. Hearing a happy " _cruo!_ " and feeling a different kind of fur, Cassidy sighed and sit the mini-fiend aside as well before finally getting her cell just as the phone went to voicemail.

Of course.

Rolling her eyes, the woman glanced at her TV while starting to pull up caller ID. Only the phone started ringing again with the name 'fire-dork' on the screen. "Hello Simon, I thought you were sleeping already." she said into the cell, balancing it between her head and shoulder as she attempted to keep kitten and fiend from hurting each other.

The response was frantic and panicked sounding. "C-Cassidy, i-it's sitting o-on me a-and it won't g-get off!" What kind of mess did he just get himself into now?

"It's just a kuriboh Simon, you knew it fallowed you, riding in your pocket from the other day." Cassidy said, cuddling her own tiny monster and a white kitten, "Did it grow? Hadir said you shouldn't feed it anything with sugar or it might multiply with no control, just plants and flowers."

Simon's response was still frantic. "N-Not a Kuriboh! Blue, s-scaly... S-staring at me! C-Cassidy why is it staring at me?!"

"Did you get a lizard?" Cassidy frowned, then sighing she added, "Simon?"

"Y-you could s-say that..." The fireman replied shakily. "A-A big one... Th-that wasn't h-here b-before I went t-to bed..."

"Simon?" Cassidy asked again, calmly as she twitched her fingers to distract the kitten.

"Wh-what?" He asked nervously, sounding as though he was on the verge of an emotional breakdown.

"Take a deep breath." The young woman said, making the motion of doing so, even if Simon could see in, "In deeply, and let it out slowly. In and out, calm down and breathe. If it hasn't hurt you yet, probably won't. Deep slow breath in, and let it out again." She said, having done this once before already in the last week after the incident at the coffee shop and binding Jafar. Simon had seen his first forest spirit the other day, and being so new to the magical world he of course called her.

"R-right... Breathe... In... Out... In... CassidywhattheheckdoIdo?! Th-there's a dragon sitting on me!" So much for calm, but at least he explained what the problem was.

"Are you eaten?" the paper witch asked after putting the phone back to her ear.

"No... No, I'm fine..." Simon replied quietly, trying to get himself collected a bit more. "Sorry, Cassidy... I-I'm just not sure what to do now that there's a miniature Blue Eyes perched on my chest and watching me as though it thinks I'm... Wait... No, that's not possible... C-Cass? A-any theories?"

"Are you wearing your charms?" Cassidy asked as Isis hopped up to the back of her futon and paced over to the girl as if listening in.

"Yes... I haven't taken them off since you gave me them." He replied, sounding a fair bit more controlled now. "... Um... It's purring at me... Kind of... Do dragons normally do that?"

"The one I met in Arizona did," Cassidy said as she stood, then added, "Are you _sure_ you have all the charms on? Or just beside your bed again?"

There was faint shifting noises, followed by a playful growling sound and a sharp inhale. "...the necklace... I forgot to put the necklace on..."

"That had Clam on it, okay," Cassidy said as she was getting her shoes on. On the way over to The Kar, she picked up a can of gushy cat food, she paused long enough for Claws to leap up to her shoulders and checked to see if she had her keys. "That explains how it found you."

"Mind explaining it to me so I remember for next time?" He asked before yelping quietly. "It pounced my hand! This thing's like a freakin' cat!" He paused before adding. "Not that I have a problem with cats. It caught me off guard, that's all."

Claws snorted and then wedged his head between Cassidy's and the phone, then scowled Simon though it.

Simon made a comical noise before responding. "Hey, I said I didn't have a problem with cats... I'm just wound a bit tight right now because of this... Duel Monster..."

Cassidy saved her phone from her guardian and fitted an ear piece in under her hair, "sorry about that, do you still have one of Claws' cat food cans there"

"Yeah, I think there's one in the cupboard." He responded thoughtfully. "I take it he'll get over it if I feed him?"

"It's okay," Cassidy said as she put the tom cat into The Kar before sliding in as well, "I think you can just move the dragon, or tell him to move."

"Ehm, alright..." He could be heard asking the dragon to get off, and gave a faint 'huh' noise, sounding amused. "Well, it listened."

"Its a Monster, I noticed when I tell Jafar, or one of my Kuriboh's, to do something he does, but asking he has the ability not to. I think its something to do with being a 'monster'." The girl turned in her seat, backing up, "I'm on my way, try feeding the dragon the cat food, they seem to like that but not the cheap stuff out of the can."

Simon took a second or two to respond, but soon replied. "Alright, I'll see if it's hungry. Thanks for coming to help... A-and I'm sorry about the disturbance. I didn't know who else I could call for help."

"You don't know any other witches," Cassidy yawned switching to speaker phone, as she backed up, and once on the road her grip on the steering wheel loosened, trysting The Kar. "I'll be there soon."

"Yeah, that is true." He responded, though she'd have heard him give a sharp little inhale afterwards, followed by him quietly-yet-frantically telling something on his end not to attack his slippers while his feet were in them. The chattering noise that followed his comment certainly wasn't normal by any stretch, though there would be no missing the amused tones in the unusual noise.

"...remind me to invest in something for this thing to chase if it sticks around very long." Simon said awkwardly. "Because it likes my slippers."

"They are fuzzy and have ears," Cassidy pointed out, remembering the bunny slippers in question and thinking they may look like prey. Or just toys to the dragon.

Simon sputtered a moment before asking sheepishly. "Remind me when you saw them before? ... but yeah, you have a good-"

The sound of the phone dropping came next, as well as a loud scuffle before, sounding flustered, Simon commented awkwardly. "Sorry about that. It pounced my foot, I dropped the phone, and we played unintentional floor hockey with it to try and see who could get a good grip on it first."

"Try feeding it cat food," Cassidy said again, scrubbing her face to wake up.

"I'm working on that." Simon responded with an awkward laugh. "I'm almost in the kitchen now... Ouch!" There was another pause, followed by a bit of scuffling, and Simon spoke again. "Sorry about that."

"Stop saying sorry, its a dragon," The paper witch said as The Kar pulled into a driveway. Cassidy took over to pull out and then into the right driveway before getting out. Claws hopped up onto her shoulder as she added, "I'm here."

"Yeah, but I keep making loud noises." Simon protested, pausing a moment before adding. "Alright, just unlocked the door for you. The dragon's in the kitchen right now. That cat food idea worked... well, mostly. Anyway, come on in."

"I have a key you know, and know how to unlock doors," Cassidy rolled her eyes as she closed her phone and did just that. She closed the door behind her and fallowed the voice of her friend and put her hands on her hips, "Simon, just because I told you I know a few lock picking spells, it does not mean I will use them willy nilly."

She'd have found Simon in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and watching the small Blue Eyes by his bare feet with intrigue. It was presently curled up on top of his now unoccupied bunny slippers, and happily chowing down on the cat food it'd been given.

When Simon heard Cassidy, he looked over and gave an awkward laugh. "I forgot you had a key, actually... and lock-picking spells... I forget a lot of things, don't I?"

The girl came in and grasping wings at the base so not to hurt and lifted it up. "Excuse me. But that is a no-no." She said firmly, but gently, respectful that this was a _dragon_ that was just in a small form. However, they were both of the white magic element, the light. Cassidy was also if this world and an active spell caster. "You do not chew on other people's things. It's rude. If you need to chew on something then have this." She put the white scaled dragon on the counter with a thick, clean, doggy chew toy in the shape of a bone that squeaked softly.

The dragon just blinked several times when Cassidy picked it up, and then chattered as though trying to argue with her, though it stopped arguing and shivered a little as it curled up on the counter, blinking and tilting its head at the noise the toy made, now seeming incredibly interested, and soon it was chewing on the toy, seeming thrilled every time it squeaked.

Simon seemed rather amused as he watched this. "I'm glad you know how to handle this critter, because I haven't got a clue."

"I'm a white-magic witch," Cassidy pointed out, "I took a chance. But I'm also and active witch Simon, and this is a Monster. You haven't claimed him so I think he's listening to me as default."

That, however, was when the Blue Eyes seemed to lose interest in the toy, dropping it as it stood up on the counter, snorted at Cassidy, and then stared at Simon with near-adoration again. Simon seemed a little weirded out. "Um... I think that might not quite be how it is..."

"It was only a guess," Cassidy pointed out, and tapped the dragon on the end of the muzzle, "No jumping either, he's very, very new to magic, and I will put a sleep spell on you young man."

Again, the Blue Eyes seemed mildly insulted, snorting and pulling its head back away from Cassidy's finger. There was something particular about Cassidy's comment that seemed to bother it, though just what it was, couldn't be figured out.

Either way though, the Blue Eyes looked down off the counter now, at the bunny slippers, and chittered at them hopefully, as though wanting one for something.

"Those are Simon's, not yours." The witch said firmly, than glanced to the side as Claws gave a warning growl.

The Guardian beast eyed the dragon, _\What do you want here lizard, these human's are under my protection.\_ Claws said, in cat but most all dragons could speak nearly anything, so he was sure he would be understood.

The Blue Eyes seemed almost to pout at Cassidy, though its gaze quickly turned to Claws, and it readied itself to fight back if Claws made the first move. _\Excuse me, but that one there,\_ the dragon looked briefly at Simon. _\Is MINE to protect. Not yours.\_

Funny thing about starting conversations; one can learn the gender of a dragon just by their voice, and this one was definitely female. Her voice may have been a bit deep, but no two-ways about it, she still sounded feminine.

Simon just watched in silent confusion before glancing at Cassidy with curiosity, though his gaze soon returned to the dragon and Claws.

Claws jumped from shoulder to counter, rumbling, _\He is a friend to my charge so under my protection. I have looked out for him as much my clean witch. You are not of this world, I can smell those dark shadows on your scales, I am.\_ His fur rippled as for a moment there was a flash of what he really was, a very big feline spirit. Then he was back to being a normal cat.

The dragon was undaunted by Claws' reaction. _\I don't care who you are, wingless one. I will not be pushed around by you, no matter how much you wish it to be so.\_ She stretched her wings a bit before folding them up again, her eyes narrowing. _\I'm not afraid of you.\_

Simon decided this would probably be a good point to try and end the problem. Sure, he didn't know what was being said, but he could tell it wasn't a good conversation. "Okay you two, back off and let's do things without starting a fight. It's a little late in the day for that sort of thing anyway."

The Blue Eyes looked up at Simon briefly and gave a faint nod, moving back a bit and losing the aggressive stance, though she still seemed ready to react if Claws tried to take action against her.

The big cat though licked a paw and swiped it over his muzzle, _\You should learn about this world old one, you've been in darkness long enough for everything to change thrice over.\_

"Claws is right," Cassidy said, she did know cat, more or less, enough to catch on, "Dragons are as invincible as they used to be. And, like I said before, Simon's not used to magic."

The Blue Eyes just snorted faintly, as though she thought she was still strong enough to deal damage if she was provoked into it.

Simon sighed. "Figures this one would be a little snippy..." He mumbled awkwardly. "Oh well though. She seems decent enough..." He then looked at Cassidy. "What was the conversation even about? Do you know?"

"How did you know its female?" Cassidy asked back, frowning at the young man as she paused mid petting of Claws.

The firefighter thought about it a bit before blinking with awkward surprise. "I... don't know." He confessed awkwardly, glancing at the Blue Eyes that was now staring happily at him. "...I just ...do I guess?" He turned his gaze back to Cassidy. "Is that even possible?"

Cassidy pointed to the stool beside the counter where the dragon was, "You. Sit." She was frowning.

Simon blinked at the demand, but gave a small nod and sat down on the stool. "I didn't do anything, I swear." He sputtered out awkwardly. "It's not my fault the dragon showed up... i-is it?"

The Blue Eyes just chattered a noise that very well could have been a laugh. Clearly she thought Simon was entertaining.

"You're not in trouble Simon," Cassidy said, rolling her eyes as she stepped behind him and put her hands on his head. "Calm down so I can see... don't fall asleep."

The pale one nodded slightly, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly to calm himself down. "In all honesty, I don't think I'll be going to sleep again anytime soon after all this."

Cassidy didn't say anything, but she was, just not anything he could understand as she spoke a few Old Words. The magic was soft, warm against his scalp as the witch sorted out what connection threads he had. One glittered in a twine of three threads, the same color as dragon scales... She traced it lightly back to the well of power that was in a draggonet form, but far from being a true hatchling.

"Oh..."

Shivers crawled down Simon's spine as the sensation of warmth against his skin, but sat still as he glanced at the Blue Eyes that was peering at him, and Cassidy, with curious amusement. When he heard Cassidy speak something he understood, however, he blinked. "What is it, Cass?"

"This thread is three months old." She traced the unseen thread with her magic, "It took that ounce of magic you have to make a...a beacon for her to find you."

"Wait, so..." He frowned a little, biting his lip as he thought it over. "So something I did three months ago, brought her here now? Or am I just really confused?"

"There was a connection that was made, and she started forming a thread between you," Cassidy tried to explain, slowly easing back the spell so not to hurt her friend, "You... no offence, you have enough magic to fit in an acorn with room to spare Simon. Even after being exposed to me in 'combat' that night, or Jafar for that matter. Its taken to the point where you filled that 'acorn' that the dragon could find you again."

"No offense taken." Simon responded, thinking over Cassidy's words carefully so he got as much out of them as possible. "That's actually magic I didn't even know I had... and she was able to find it? Even though there was that small of an amount? That's..." He paused, laughing very faintly. "That's pretty incredible..."

The Blue Eyes chittered with pride, as though pleased with what he said. Of course, flattery and dragons presumably went well together, so her delight in his unintentional praise was understandable.

"It's still magic though, and you became aware of it after seeing a Monster for the first time..." The paper witch considered and sighed as the seeing spell faded so she could pull back, rubbing her hands.

"That is true I suppose... will it grow stronger the more I'm exposed to it?" He seemed curious, excited perhaps, but at the same time a little nervous. Sure, he had a Blue Eyes that blatantly adored being with him, but at the same time, he had very little experience, and that made him an easy target for anyone who wanted to try and get rid of him.

"Think of it like a baby," Cassidy said, after a looking thoughtfully at the dragon and the chew toy. "Babies are helpless right? Can't even sit up on their own, but as time goes by, they grow and get stronger. In little stages. First moving their eyes, seeing more than six inches, then head can start supporting itself, learning to roll over and slowly able to sit up. And so on."

The paper witch looked at her friend seriously, making sure he was _paying attention_ to her full.

"First, you've become _aware_ of magic in general Simon." She said, tone a little stern as she lectured on _her_ subject. "Magic isn't just energy or spirits, but a way of life. Its like I told you before: Once you truly see it, _believe_ in it, there's no going back. You've subconsciously forged a link with a dragon of another _realm_. What magics you have are growing, the rate of that growth I can't say, but you do have white-magics like I do." She added to reassure.

Simon's expression showed plainly that he was focused and taking in every word she was saying. "White magic... okay... baby steps... okay, I think I got it."

"And keep your charms on you, there's a trick though when sleeping," Cassidy smiled as she walked around the kitchen, rummaging around with the air of a friend used to looking for things, and used to the place. "You don't have to have them on all the time but near you. Here," She pulled the semi hidden colonel bottle out of not only the date draw, but out of its dark red fabric bag. She held it up by the strings, "Put them in this and have the charms under your pillow or something. You don't live on a protected property... maybe you should have one of Isis' kittens too."

He smiled a little as he accepted the bag and nodded. "I'll make sure I remember that." He paused when he heard the suggestion about having a kitten. "Well... maybe, but they're probably too young for a while yet, aren't they? I'm not sure how old they are..."

"They'll be ready here soon," Cassidy said, letting Claws jump up onto her shoulders and rubbed the side of her head against him. Claws purred as he groomed his person's hair for a moment, "Their not like Claws here, not really, but they're of a line that protects. This pretty little dragon can't be here all the time, and a cat would know what spirits to chance off now adays."

Simon gave an understanding nod. "Alright." He absentmindedly stroked the small Blue Eyes on the counter beside him while he thought things over. "Of course, we'd also need to make sure Isis was okay with it. I'm not about to try anything that could make her upset."

"She had her kittens to help others, Isis is a shrine queen," Cassidy grinned, and rolled her eyes as Claws purr took a deeper edge. "And there might be more kittens. Two are already spoken for, and I know five witches that would spazz at having a kitten from Isis and Claws."

Simon blinked before laughing faintly. "Well, as long as it wouldn't cause trouble, I wouldn't mind it. I had cats when I was little, so at least I'd know what I was doing, and if this is something you recommend, I'm willing to give it a try."

Cassidy nodded, "Yeah, you'll have to kitten and dragon proof your horse though if this white one comes again without being summoned." she reached out to touch a white curve of a wing.

"My house and my slippers." Simon said with a faint laugh of sorts, smiling as he watched the Blue Eyes lean into Cassidy's touch, clearly appreciating the affection she was being shown.

"You're very pretty," Cassidy told the blue eyes. Looking up as she yawned and added, "Okay, I demand cuddles for making me get up- and lunch later."

The Blue Eyes chattered and stood up as proud as she could, quite happy about the compliment. Clearly she liked being showered with good words.

Simon gave an awkward chuckle. "Yeah, I'll make sure that happens. And I'm sorry again for causing all of this fuss."

The girl pointed to the living room, "Cuddles."


	11. Chapter 11

The nights were getting warmer along with the spring turning to real summer weather. It was a nice change from the winter storms to say the least, and a lone paper witch shifted in her TransAM, peering out of the tinted windows as she waited for her friend. In one hand she held a piece of paper, blank to any normal person, but to someone who had some Sight, would see the glittering golden glyphs on it. Her other hand rested on the new full deck that had been made over the last weeks.

She could feel the shadow magic tingle under her finger tips, and knew who was on the top, and about ten cards down was where the dark one was waiting.

It took a little while, but after a few minutes of waiting, the pale young man Cassidy was waiting for left his house, locking the door behind him before pocketing his keys, shifting his jacket a little, and heading over to the car, the fuzzy white head of his kitten poking out of his jacket, supported by his arm so it wouldn't fall and get hurt. Ever since he'd gotten the kitten, Simon rarely went anywhere without it. Not only that, but over the time between his getting it to the present, his Blue Eyes and the kitten ended up rather friendly with each other, even though the Blue Eyes (who seemed to have a thing for scaring Simon whenever she popped in for a visit) wasn't around all the time.

"Sorry about that," Simon apologized as he carefully slid into the car, taking a moment to check on the kitten after he closed the door. "I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?"

"Nope-" Cassidy started, and then slapped the steering wheel as The Kar growled at the man the same time, "Be nice. Sorry, he's been grumpy lately." The Paper with tucked the deck between her knees to hold it and the ward was put on the dash, before she moved to back up. Once more not having to touch the keys as The Kar started on his own.

Simon chuckled quietly as he smiled. "I'm not too worried. It wouldn't be the first time he's growled at me. To be honest, part of me is surprised he hasn't tried running me over yet. Then again, I tend to blow things a little out of proportion now and then, so... anyway. You looking forward to this? I know I am."

The kitten in his jacket mewed quietly, drawing his attention for a moment as he gently stroked its fur and smiled as it tried to catch his finger.

The girl beside him very pointedly didn't mention the fact that The Kar not only had tried but DID run over a few people. As well as that her possessed car _had_ tried to run Simon over a once or twice... that was best kept to herself.

"Yep!" She chirped instead, heading to an out of the way park in fire witch territory. "Have you thought of what you want to be for the party?"

Simon laughed awkwardly as he thought about it. "I've tried to figure out something specific, but I can't really come up with anything I'm set on. My Blue Eyes seemed to try and indicate my Paladin of White Dragon card, so I think she liked the idea of that one."

"...what is that one again," Cassidy hesitated to ask, looking over at the young man, blinking in confusion.

Simon paused, digging through his cards quickly to try and find it. "I know I brought it with me... Ah, here it is." He pulled the card out and showed it to her. "Basically, he's some sort of fancy knight that has to do with Blue Eyes White Dragons."

"Dragon kin?" Cassidy smiled as she took the card to look it over, "Might fit with you. The park's not far away now."

Simon grinned as he nodded. " Got any ideas for your costume?"

"Yes," Cassidy blushed as she looked away, trying to drive though The Kar was doing just fine on his own like always.

The firefighter seemed rather intrigued. "Oh? Are you going to tell me or just leave me guessing? You know how I am when I get curious. Is it dark magician girl?"

"Do I look like someone that likes mini-short skirts?" The young woman arched an eyebrow at her friend as she parked. All of her skirts where at least knee high at least.

Simon chuckled quietly. "No, not really I guess. I just gave it a random guess because you like Jafar so much."

His friend blushed again as she reached for the ward and her deck before getting out. "Okay, I'm going to activate this, and you're going to have a hard time at first." The paper witch put the deck in a pocket and held out her hand to Simon to take once they were away from The Kar. "It's a ward to keep normal people out of an area when magic is being used openly."

"Ehm... Okay? Hard time meaning... Seeing things?" Simon seemed a bit confused as he took hold of her hand.

"No, the ward will try and drive you away," Cassidy explained, keeping a good hold on her friend, "I can do a smaller spell that will let you stay, but I can't do it and the ward at the same time."

"Ah, okay." He responded, thinking about it a bit. "So... What sort of drive away are we meaning? Pain, headaches, just a desire to leave..? Just so I know what's going to happen ahead of time."

"No pain, never, I can't and won't do that to people," The girl smacked the firefighter lightly on the shoulder, "It's a compulsion to not go somewhere or push at people to leave the area."

He winced faintly when she smacked him, not that it hurt, but responded awkwardly. "I figured that, but I just wanted to make sure. I like being aware of things before they happen."

"Now hang on, and if you want to move then sit down instead." The paper witch said sighing, "Okay. Big deep breath Simon." She warned as Cassidy held up the ward, getting ready to activate it.

He nodded again, bracing himself and closing his eyes as he took in a deep breath. "Go for it." One hand was providing a foothold for his kitten, and the other now lightly stroking its white fur.

Taking a deep breath, the paper witch spoke, using the Old Words that were perfectly understandable for trained spell casters, " _I call upon a Barrier to hold back the tide of curiosity. Stand strong and firm until the time you are dismissed, people are in need of you to keep them away from any danger. I, a Wolfpaw child command you._ " She opened one eye as the feeling of the attention barrier flickered before the golden emblem on the paper blazed and burned under the magic, rising out of her grip. The paper burned away until only the glyph was left, lifting up into the air above them.

Simon ended up sitting down while this was done, eyes still closed and expression set firmly. No matter how much he felt like he wanted to, he adamantly refused to move an inch. Cassidy had to take a few deep breaths, pulled sideways from her hand still grasping Simon's. She turned and knelt down, reaching to grasp his other hand and half hugged him as she worked a minor counter spell. She traced a symbol on his palm and netted the spell around him.

"There," she said in normal English, and then sat down as well.

As the tension left his frame, Simon relaxed, sighing contentedly as he smiled at Cassidy. "Thanks. That didn't take a lot out of you to do, did it?"

Cassidy shook her head, "Not really, it's more Old Magic... its just powerful using it."

"Ah, okay." He responded, thinking it over a bit before smiling again. "Glad to know that. Last thing I want is to be a nuisance."

"You're always a nuisance," Cassidy pushed at Simon's head as she stood back up, then giggled and flounced off with a mock offended air, but couldn't help grinning. Her hands full of her deck now and she flipped through them once more, thoughtfully, but her hand found the red card without even trying.

The firefighter blinked, but started to laugh as he shook himself a bit and got up, his kitten clinging to his shirt as he slowly followed Cassidy. "Is that why you've kept me around so long?" He teased, grinning cheekily at her. "Because I'm so annoying you think I'm cute?" It was clear he was joking around.

The girl turned and held the card up, letting go of it but the card stay in its spot in the air. "Jafar, _come out._ " She added in hesitant Egyptian, waiting to see if that would work better as she poured in her magic into the card, and thus the Dark Magician.

At first, nothing really happened. After a second or two though, a plume of crimson smoke shot up from in front of Cassidy, and as it faded, it revealed Jafar... Sleeping while standing up, and holding a book in his hand. Simon couldn't help but snicker quietly.

Cassidy tucked her head down, crossing her forearms over it as she shook from silent laughter. Peeking up she noted how the Monster was using his staff to prop himself up. "Don't touch the staff..." she warned Simon, pulling another card out and turning to summon the Celtic Guardian as well. The elven warrior had shook himself and the other Monster rumbled in greeting to his mistress, but he eyed Simon though. Cassidy edged over to carefully tug on Jafar's peace robes, noting the lack of armor.

"Trust me, touching that staff is the last thing I want to try at the moment." Simon responded quietly, his gaze turning to Hadir and studying his features before he gave an awkward, semi-nervous smile. "Um... Hi there."

As for Jafar, he didn't respond at first, though on the second tug he jerked awake and spluttered. "I was not sleeping, Dark One." He then looked around, his face going scarlet when he spotted Cassidy. "Ah, hello."

Hadir _growled_ than.

The tall elven warrior shifting the grip on the hilt on his hip. Just barely seen under his cloak was a bow and quiver. He was far from impressed with a mortal man with his mistress.

Simon cringed slightly when the Celtic Guardian did this. "... Um... N-Nice sword?" He said with unease, holding his kitten a tinsy bit closer as he made a quiet swallowing noise. As for the kitten, she was less than happy, and hisses at Hadir when he growled, though it was more out of fear than anger. She was still just a little cat, after all.

The girl frowned and tugged on Jafar's robes again, looking up at him pleadingly to help defuse the situation.

Thankfully the Dark Magician was fast at waking up (all of Dark One's students learned this trick very fast), and gave Cassidy a small nod, magic-ing his book away before walking over and standing beside Simon, his expression calm, but gaze showing he wasn't going to let Hadir push Simon around. "He is a friend of Cassidy's." The Magician remarked calmly, though it held a firm undertone. "Kindly, do not scare him. He is very new to all of this."

 _"I do not trust the minds of mortal men,_ " Hadir said, growling again but he stood back, crossing his arms. The thing was he spoke in elvish, knowing that only Jafar would know what he said. " _I have served them before, never again._ "

Jafar's eyes narrowed faintly, seeming mildly annoyed as he responded, using the same language that Hadir did. " _Clearly you did not know any decent men. Trust me when I say Simon is more afraid of making us angry than he is interested in using our power for personal gain._ " He then relaxed and looked at Simon, quirking a faint smile and resting his large hand on the young man's shoulder reassuringly, as though to say he'd be alright.

Simon merely gave a nervous half smile in return as he looked up at the Dark Magician, though he quickly turned his attention to his kitten, who by now had nearly crawled out of his arms, a situation that the firefighter quickly fixed.

Catching on, and hearing her name, Cassidy came over and grasp Simon's hand. Squeezing it before going over and demanding a hug from the elf. Almost at once Hadir's features soften as he knelt down to let the girl hop up on a leg and wrapped one arm around her in return.

Satisfied with this result, Jafar smiled a bit more and lightly removed his hand from Simon. Now, he turned his attention to his present attire. "...It seems that I was not as prepared for this calling as I had hoped. No matter though... Cassidy, if you do not mind my inquiry, what are we doing now?"

"Right!" Cassidy turned around, putting both of her hands on the larger, callused one of Hadir's, as that seemed to let him stay calmer. She blushed, "You're okay, its not a 'oh Raven save us' moment. But, um, I was hoping we could get your help with something..."

"Oh?" The Dark Magician inquired, raising an eyebrow as he glanced Cassidy over before turning his gaze to her eyes. "What did you require my assistance for?"

"You know how you magic-ed those cloths before?" Cassidy asked, still with some red on her cheeks. "Could you do that in reverse? Like, let one of us look or dress like a monster- but only look."

He blinked before chuckling faintly. "I do believe so. Is this for that... 'Costume' gathering, you and Simon discussed back when you accidentally used a Spell-Binding Circle on me?"

"She what?" Hadir blinked, looking between the taller Dark Magician and their little mistress. He quirked a blond eyebrow up, sensing an amusing story.

Jafar smiled at the reaction Hadir had, and had a good guess that Cassidy might be embarrassed. He didn't mind though; it was amusing and no harm was done. "To put it simply, I had forgotten something that was told to me only short time before, so Cassidy threw one of her cards at me. She did not know what card it was though, and I soon found myself stuck." He chuckled fondly at the memory. "She had to call Simon to come with his cards to get the Spell-Binding Circle off of me."

The blond brow quirked up again as the other Monster rumbled.

Cassidy ducked her head, "I don't toss cards now." She muttered softly, then added to change the subject, "But, yes, that's the thing this is for. In order to go to the party we need to be dressed up as a monster..."

The Dark Magician chuckled faintly as he nodded. "I understand, Cassidy. Did you have one in mind for yourself?" He glanced briefly at Simon, who shivered a little when Hadir made the noise, but didn't say a word. He figured it should be clear enough to the Guardian that Simon wasn't going to be any trouble at all.

The paper witch nodded, but looked at Simon, "Yes. Simon, do you still want to do that...um... paddock... paddin... er, how did you say it?"

"Paladin of White Dragon?" Simon responded. "Yeah, I think so. Gazzy was pretty insistent on it, and the card does look neat..." He hesitated before sighing. "Unless you had a better suggestion?"

Cassidy shook her head, "I don't', and it's up to you. Do you know it Jafar?" She asked looking up to the yellow gaze.

The Dark Magician studied Simon carefully before shaking his head. "Not one that would fit his build. If it were possible, I would suggest a Blue Eyes White Dragon, but the only humanoid near that would be the Paladin, if I am not mistaken."

"It doesn't have to be real, heavy armor," Cassidy pointed out, tapping a finger on the green metal on Hadir's forearm. "This is a party, so, no fighting..."

Jafar nodded. "I know. I was trying to match a Duel Monster appearance to him for other reasons. You do recall what I told you about Simon, yes?"

"...oh, yes?" Cassidy tilted her head, glancing at her friend while holding onto one of Hadir's fingers. "...is that possible?"

"It is not likely." Jafar responded as he thought it over. "I think the closest Duel Monster to a Blue Eyes White Dragon is the Paladin of White Dragon."

"But," Cassidy frowned in confusion, "That's what we were trying to ask in the first place..."

Now the Dark Magician was confused. "... I believe we got lost in translation somewhere... At any rate, we at least know somewhat what we are doing, yes?"

"Um, yeah... okay. reset!" Cassidy announced loudly, "Could you do something to make Simon look like the Paladin? If that's okay, Simon." she added looking to her friend.

The young man nodded in agreement, and Jafar smiled. "I do believe I can. Though... Perhaps it would be best if someone held his cat for him while we try this."

Cassidy disentangled herself from Hadir's grip, and came over with her hands out, the kitten after all grew up in her room, "I'll take the fuzzy."

Simon smiled as he handed over the reluctant-to-let-go kitten. "Thanks, Cass. She's being a bit clingy right now, so mind that she doesn't snag her claws in your shirt. Don't need her getting hurt, or tearing your clothes, after all."

"I live with an oversized tom cat-guardian spirit that's name is Claws for a good reason." Cassidy pointed out with a smile, "And my dad's a vet. I think I can handle a kitten." She backed up away from her friend, looking up to Jafar to see if she was a safe distance. "What does he need to do?"

Simon smiled awkwardly. "True enough I suppose." He too then turned his gaze to Jafar.

The Dark Magician was tempted to say something that would make Simon look silly, but he let his maturity, and care for the young man, stamp that idea out as soon as it arrived. "Just stand with your arms extended to the sides a little." As he said this, he studied Simon's frame more closely, quite likely taking mental notes of his size.

Cassidy darted back to Hadir, and the elven warrior rumbled before his shifted his shoulders down so his cloak fell down. Hadir wrapped part of his cloak around Cassidy to protect her from any extra magic. "Don't turn him into a Monster dark one," The guardian commented, teasing in his dry way, "I do not think he would like to live in our mistress' deck."

The paper witch gasped, eyes widening, "...is that possible?"

Simon's face drained of color. "W-wait, what?!"

Jafar had started the magic wielding before Simon had a chance to argue. Catching onto Hadir's little joke, he responded with a casual shrug. "Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. I have not tried this before, so..."

"O-okay should we rewind a bit before we do something to me that shouldn't happen?!" The panicking firefighter spluttered.

A plume of smoke enveloped Simon before anyone could answer, and as it faded... it revealed Simon, still as normal and human as ever, in what appeared to be the armor of a Paladin of White Dragon.

Jafar chuckled as he gave a satisfied nod, walked over, and very lightly rested his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Simon..." He said quietly, a gentle and reassuring smile on his face. "I would not do anything to you that would potentially harm you. Not without a lot of debate and discussion with you about it."

Cassidy sighed quietly to herself at this, then her eyes widened again, "Um, Jafar? I think he's going to fall over..." She pointed out, the armor still looked rather heavy.

The Dark Magician considered Cassidy's words before blinking. "Goodness, you do have a point... hm..." He considered the situation a bit before, with the faintest twitch of his fingers, altering the armor to try and make it lighter. Simon's whole frame relaxed afterwards. "Better?" Jafar inquired.

"Much... thanks, Jafar." Simon gave a faint grin as he said this, glad that no changing into a Monster happened, shifting his armor a bit before taking his helmet off and grinning cheerfully. He then put the helmet back on, and looked at Cassidy. "How do I look?"

"You can let go Hadir."

The Celtic Guardian rumbled and growled, then blinked as a small kitten was put into his large palm. Then blinked again as the white feline curled up there. While he was distracted the Paper witch came over to her friend and smiled. Cassidy poked his nearer arm, "Can you walk around in that? The party part is for a few hours according to the webpage."

Simon thought a bit as he rolled his shoulders. "Hm... Well, only one way to find out." He stretched his arms, getting used to the weight of the armor before starting to walk around in a circle, then a figure eight. Satisfied, but wanting to test the armor out just a little bit more, he glanced around before taking off at a run. He was clumsy at first, but he soon had himself oriented with the feel of it, and laughed cheerfully as he went... well, right up until he stumbled and fell over. "Ack! ...I'm okay!"

Cassidy hung her head, hiding them in her hands for a moment in a double facepalm moment. "I think you fell." She said creatively as she jogged over, stopping to look down and hold her braid back, "Can you _get up?_ "

The fireman hesitated to spit some dirt out before mustering his strength and getting to his feet. "Yeah, I'm good. To be honest, this is about as heavy as my heavy gear at the fire department. I'm quite comfortable with this." He walked back over to where Cassidy's monsters were, taking his helmet off as he did. "Thankfully though it's a little more breathable than my other gear."

"Yep." The girl came over and grinned before pointing to the sword and scabbard on his left hip, "You got something else too." Cassidy pointed out, not seeing a quirking eyebrow from the elf.

"Eh?" The young man's gaze fell to his hip. "... whoa..." He then looked at Jafar. "Is... is that real?" When the Dark Magician nodded, Simon blinked again and looked at Cassidy. "I... think I'm going to leave that there for now... you know, so I don't accidentally trip and kill anyone. That'd be a bit... bad."

"Impossible to do," Hadir snorted, watching with one clear blue eye, and trying to use the other to keeping track of the kitten on his forearm at the same time. "One should never be afraid of their own weapon."

Simon turned and looked at Hadir, seeming a bit curious, and a little uneasy. "I guess my unease about having a sharp weapon out seems a bit silly to you. I've... never used a sword before, and I just don't want to accidentally hurt someone with it."

As for the kitten, she stretched and rolled onto her back, mewing up at Hadir and staring at him with her large, pale blue-grey eyes. The utmost of cute was presently snuggled up in the palm of his hand, it seemed.

"Then learn how to use one," Hadir snorted, but it was sensible in a way. He looked to Jafar pointedly, where the Dark Magician held his power staff, "Swords and staffs have more than once use as well."

"I hate to sound like an idiot," Simon pointed out, though he still sounded uneasy about Hadir, and perhaps a little nervous. "But there's nobody around here who's really able to teach me. Otherwise I probably would've learned how to use a sword properly instead of just the games I used to play when I was a child wielding a wooden weapon."

"Broomsticks and trash can lids?" Cassidy asked, grinning shyly, but she had done the same as well.

The young man chuckled quietly as he looked at Cassidy and gave a small nod. "Somewhat. My grandfather made wooden swords and shields for a childhood friend of mine and myself, when we were younger. I've got mine tucked in my garage for sentimental reasons. One should never let go of their youth... that's how I figure it anyway."

Cassidy nodded, touching the necklace she had under her shirt before looking to the Monsters. She edged over and tugged on Jafar's robes for attention, ready for her turn. But she motioned him down to her level.

The Dark Magician looked at Cassidy now, and knelt so he was more of her height. "Yes, Cassidy?" He asked her quietly, smiling softly as he spoke.

"Can... can I be you?" She asked, poking at silver locks and was blushing again. Cassidy tugged on her braid nervously but she still like the idea, and her question had been soft enough that even the elven warrior could barely hear it.

"You... want to be me?" Jafar repeated, keeping his voice and quiet and soft as Cassidy's was. "...well, I see no harm in that." He smiled gently at her. "You are certain that is what you want?"

Cassidy nodded, then giggled despite herself as she held up her braid, "Though I do have longer hair." She pointed out, brown eyes bright and a little playful, not sure if the Magician would change her hair color or not.

The older, and far taller, caster chuckled quietly. "Well, I don't know about the length, but we will worry about the outfit for now and sort out details like that after. Does that sound fine to you?"

The Monster's mortal caster nodded, "Just not to heavy..." She squeaked.

Jafar nodded in return. "I'll do my best to keep it light for you." He responded before closing his eyes and giving a small wave of his hand. With a small puff of smoke, nowhere near as dramatic as the great plume that Simon had been engulfed by, Cassidy would've found herself in a set of Dark Magician armor, as red as Jafar's, but remarkably light weight. The robe was similarly light weight, but fully there.

That was when the Dark Magician paused. "...Did you want a hat too?"

Cassidy had her eyes closed, opening one and then looking herself over and shifted in place. She giggled tugging on the sleeves and looked back up to nodded, shy once more as she heard Hadir start a slow, rumbling laugh that showed his Monster side.

The Magician chuckled quietly with amusement. "You are rather cute in that little outfit of yours." He remarked before, with a small puff of smoke around Cassidy's head, she got a red hat to match the outfit, its weight fitting with the rest of her armor rather nicely. Satisfied, Jafar turned his gaze to Hadir. "What do you think of her new attire?"

"Not quiet finished," Hadir pointed out, and pointed at the dark one's own staff as Cassidy pulled the hat down to hide her eyes, but not her happy blush over her cheeks, from the angles, Jafar was between her and Simon so he'd yet to see the 'mini magician.'

"Ah, yes, of course; a staff is very important." The dark one remarked with a small laugh. "Thank you, Hadir." He paused to consider what to do about it.

Simon spoke up after moving to get a good look of his friend. "Well... I'm not sure how well this idea would work, but I'm not too bad with woodworking. I might be able to make a replica staff for her... maybe?"

"Would you have enough time?" Cassidy asked, peeking under the gold edge of the hat, "You're going to be on shift soon for the department before the party weekend."

Simon shrugged. "If I work at it hard enough, I should be able to have it done in time." He paused, raising an eyebrow before moving to try and get a better look at Cassidy. "Can I see you know, or do you not want me to see what you look like?"

The paper witch, or rather 'little Dark Magician' ran her hands down her frame, glad that Jafar had made the form fitting armor very light on the first try before stepping out from behind him. Cassidy gave a nervous giggle, "what do you think?"

"For a black hair magician, you look more beautiful than the dark one will ever be my lady." Hair said, watching and smirked before bowing to his mistress.

Simon blinked several times before grinning at her. "I'm going to agree with Hadir on this one; you're seriously rocking that outfit."

Jafar seemed confused as he looked at Simon. "...she is what?"

"...um, she looks good, Jafar."

"Good thing it fits a female form," Cassidy said softly, looking down the front of the caller guard, blinked and poked the very thin 'armor' of the semi ornate shoulder guards. She stood up as she realized something, blushing deeper as she squeaked.

Jafar raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong, Cassidy?" He inquired. Simon seemed equally curious.

"Um, nothing, don't worry about it," She said, making a mental memo to talk to Jafar later and ask if he could let her keep her underwear next time.

The Dark Magician gave a small shrug, though he still seemed a bit confused. "Well, if you insist, Cassidy. At any rate, other than the staff, I would say this has been a success."

Simon smiled. "I'll have the staff done as soon as I can too." The man grunted as he was tackled in a hug, and then both mortal humans flailed, before thumping to the ground. Thought light weight, armor was armor and their developed muscles weren't built up for carrying it, so Simon and Cassidy overbalanced and fell.


	12. Chapter 12

"No... no, don't... Cassidy, no!"

WHAM!

Jafar jolted awake, instinctively summoning his staff and launching an attack... straight at the wall. Luckily, the room was built to survive attacks like that, and as the frightened Dark Magician stared up at the room around him, his tense, sweat-drenched frame relaxed. Letting go of his staff, he closed his eyes and sighed, taking a moment to let the cold, stone floor cool his cheek and torso. The blanket was draped over him still, somewhat at least, but that didn't mean he was invisible to the world. Nope, anyone who went in to investigate the source of the noise would find Jafar, partially tangled in the blanket and shirtless, lying on the floor and his staff laying abandoned nearby.

...it certainly wasn't a flattering scene for him.

A fairy soft squeaking sounded from above him soon, as a little hot pink post-it note paper crane fluttered in circles above the not-quiet man. Scolding him for the studded use of magic before it fluttered down to the ground. It peered up into Jafar's face, squeaking again, but more of a question this time.

The caster sighed as he heard the squeaking. "... sorry..." He said quietly, opening his eyes after a moment or two to look the post-it bird over. "...nightmare... just a nightmare..." He mentally shook himself a little before shifting and pushing himself into a sitting position, leaning against the bed and brushing his sweat-soaked hair out of his face. He suddenly realized just how loud of a bang his spell had made when it hit the wall. "...I hope that did not wake anyone up..."

A squeak came again as the crane fluttered up, hanging onto the white bangs of the magician while the Monster stood back up. One of the little pink wings flapped against his cheek before the post it note crane could get a betting grip.

He tilted his head a little as he listened to the crane squeaking, chuckling very faintly as its wing brushed against his cheek. "That tickled a little." He remarked, seeming mildly amused by the paper bird.

The shadows shifted in the room as the castle itself reached out to touch the Monster. Seeking to 'see' if he was hurt.

He was quiet for a while as he saw the shadows move and felt them touch him. "I am alright…" He insisted, whether or not the castle could hear him. "Just have a headache right now." Jafar nearly added 'and almost had a heart attack' to his comment, but refrained. If he said that and someone took it seriously, he might end up being more mothered than he would've liked… well, more mothered from someone else than he would have liked. As awkward to admit as it was, the Dark Magician thoroughly enjoyed it whenever his little mistress mothered and doted on him.

The paper crane meeped and then made the smallest of smuggest sounds as it finally got setting into a lock of the Monster's hair. Probably 'thinking' it was hidden like it used to do in Cassidy's hair, but it apparently was color blind (though how could it see in the first place being -paper- was something to wonder about), as it was bright pink against the sliver-white hair of the dark one.

The magician couldn't help but smile and chuckle a little more as he remarked. "If Mana sees you, she is going to think you are the cutest and most fascinating thing since the wheel was created."

"Meep?" Was the fairy soft voice, the crane lived now, seemingly quiet happily, in Jafar's room. Only daring to go outside of it when hiding in his hair or in the not quiet man's caller guard. Maybe he could get a few more for the other magicians (or himself) from his mistress, considering the paper cranes where fairly good as pets. Not to mention harmless to Monsters.

As he sat and pondered the possibilities, Jafar found himself growing more and more lonely feeling... well, at least he was going to call it that. The truth was, he wanted a hug from his little paper witch and perhaps a little bit of cuddling.

"... maybe I should see if she's dreaming right now..."

"Meep!" the crane seemed to agree, different realm or not, it had a basic grasp and link to the human world where it's maker was.

Luckily, the magician had begun to figure out what the different squeaks and flapping gestures meant, and he gave the faintest of nods. "Alright then. I guess I'll just have to take a little bit of a dream walk and check on her."

Making what could be a huff, the crane fluttered a bit, knowing that he was about to lay down again.

Jafar laughed very faintly as he got back on the bed and carefully laid down, making sure he didn't crush the little post-it crane as he did so. Pulling the blanket back up over himself a little more, he then closed his eyes, focused, and cast the spell, sending himself from his own mind as he fell asleep, to Cassidy's.

"-really-ACK! Jafar duck!" Cassidy's voice yelped before a pile of mash potatoes sailed at the magician before he could look around.

The magician ducked before he even knew what was going on, looking around with high confusion as he tried to figure out just what he got himself into. "What in the name of Ra are you up to in here, Cassidy?" He inquired, his confusion obvious.

"Its- its...its a dream?" The young woman, looking much younger than the last time he saw her looked around the gym like room. She seemed to see for the first time to see that the others were shadowy, and only a young Simon was visible. Even them his image was hazy in the half memory, half dream world. That and the food fight stopped mid motion with the Monster here.

The Dark Magician looked around in bewilderment. "...dare I ask why you are dreaming about having a massive food fight? Or why Simon is somehow involved?" Despite his confusion, he definitely seemed rather entertained.

"I..." Cassidy in the form of her younger self looked around, confused as well. "I don't know..."

Jafar noticed her young appearance and chuckled quietly as he smiled at her fondly before blinking and looking down at himself. "... huh." At the present, he too seemed younger, around the same age as Cassidy's dream form, though thankfully he was wearing more modern-style clothing instead of what he'd have actually worn at this particular age. Even his size matched it.

...he was still very tall.

Comparatively, she was itty bitty, still short for her age and had a willowy thin frame. Her hair was loose, and had phantom eggs on/in it.

"Um... I think I'm in high school..." she realized.

"Your concept of school is a lot different than what I am used to." Jafar responded, brushing some of his presently black hair out of his face as he looked around the room with curiosity.

Jafar's presently teen-age frame was lightly muscled, strong, and well built, though he had an odd air of awkwardness about him, almost as though he were a klutz as a teenager. His hair was also tucked back behind his ear, and was presently shoulder length, with his bangs dangling down in front of his face thanks to being too short to tuck behind his ears. His face notably still had the same patterns on it that he had as a normal Dark Magician though, and his eyes were still hawk yellow.

"Different ages, different cultures." Cassidy giggled as she tried to free her hair of the eggs. Looking at Jafar she blushed and looked down.

The 'mini monster' (as he might be called for now) seemed mildly amused at her reaction. "Cassidy, this is your dream, is it not? You can easily just get rid of the eggs by manipulating the dream... why are you blushing?" He didn't seem to quite know what she was blushing for, oblivious to the fact that he was still handsome, even as a kid.

"A dream..." Cassidy dropped down to her knees on the table, closing her eyes and tried to focus on her trip to the park the day before with Simon. She had been trying to teach him more about white magic. When she opened her eyes she was on a picnic table and looking up at a full-fledged Monster

Jafar, now back to his usual, epic, Dark Magician self, smiled at Cassidy before looking around at the surroundings. "This is a setting that makes a little more sense to me. Though, I do hope I did not ruin any fun you were having by my turning up."

"No you didn't, its a little hazy right now anyways," Cassidy stood a moment later on the table, coming nearly eye level with the Monster now, "Sorry for nearly beaming you with mash..."

The Magician chuckled as he shook his head. "It is quite alright, Cassidy. It would not be the first time someone has hit me with something that should be eaten rather than thrown." He smiled fondly as he recalled something from his history, though he didn't elaborate.

The girl looked down, then walked over to the edge, "Jafar?"

The Dark Magician raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" The paper witch jumped out and to him, hoping he'd catch her. He blinked, but his fast reflexes meant he was able to catch her without hurting her. "Well hello there."

Cassidy grinned, not minding the staff pressed against her side as she grabbed red armor and pulled herself over the collar guard to give the Dark Magician a shy kiss. "I want a hug, I didn't get one last time..."

Jafar's cheeks flushed pink, but he smiled as he shifted and gently hugged her, moving his staff so it floated nearby instead of having it pressed against to Cassidy. "Well, I am happy to hug you." He paused before adding sheepishly. "To be honest, that is part of why I came."

"...I guess even epic castes need loves and hugs," Cassidy pressed against the magician's chest, reaching around as far as she could to hug him.

Jafar's face flushed darker as he nodded a little. "Yes, perhaps. How have you been since we saw each other last?" He seemed highly curious, and amused by Cassidy's snuggling.

"I've been reading that book you left behind," Cassidy assured promptly, "...well, I'm not sure if you meant to leave it or not, but its written in Old World so its taking a little while to read through it. But it's fascinating."

The Magician blinked slowly. "...remind me which book that was. I cannot quite remember what I had been reading when I... ehm... took a moment to rest my eyes." It seemed that he was still embarrassed about being summoned while he was in such a state. Then again, it had probably spared him a whacking for falling asleep while studying.

"I didn't think anyone but my father could sleep while standing," The girl wondered, shook her head and remembered his question, "Its about healing based magic, old Egyptian magic."

Jafar's expression went from curious to alarm and surprise within mere seconds. "It was?" He paused to think back a bit before cringing, as though already predicting what sort of headache he was in for if a particular, purple-wearing Magician was particularly unhappy about the book being left behind for a human to study. "Ah... I... I might need to take that back with me the next time you bring me to your realm. I am not sure if the Dark One will be that pleased about my misplacing the book in your world."

"...even though it's just a healing book?" Cassidy squeaked out, reacting to Jafar's reaction. The book that had been fascination her in the mornings and evenings had only been building and correcting what she knew. The herbal and mix of plants and magic to heal sickness and speeding healing of wounds.

"Well... I..." He sighed as he considered it. "I can ask him if you can borrow it if you want me to. He might be content to let you read it."

"I'm half way through it," the paper witch offered, though considering the book was almost as think as her forearm... that she made it that far in a week was a feat in of itself.

This information caused Jafar to do a double-take. "How... how were you able to focus on it for that long?" He inquired, sounding as though he were amazed. "That is a lot of reading."

"Jafar...I'm a paper witch," Cassidy flushed, half hiding under her hair, she reached up and stared to braid it to keep her hands busy, "Books are what we do. And its subject is healing magic, what I'm good at. Plus, I'm a Liberian."

The Dark Magician thought over what Cassidy said, giving an awkward little smile of sorts as he responded. "Well, you do have a valid argument. When you put it that way, it is not quite so hard for me to believe." His cheeks tinted very faintly red. "It is certainly a lot better than I can achieve with that book."

"You just have to read it." the girl pointed out, "...is it just you here?" She asked looking around and worrying about something.

Jafar thought on it a bit as he glanced around. "I believe so... why? Do you feel that something or someone else came in uninvited?"

"No, but, I've been copying from the book...if you have to take it back, could you tell me and give my a day or two the copy the whole thing?"

He paused again to consider for a moment, but then nodded. "I do not see how that would be a problem. I will make sure to let you know if that is what the situation is."

"Maybe when I'm strong enough to call you, I can show you how a paper witch can copy." Cassidy offered, for a moment forgetting her self-promise not to let slip how hard it was normally to summon things from the shadow realm.

That slip up made Jafar look at her with sternness and concern. "You failed to mention before that it was hard for you to summon a Monster." He half scolded, half remarked. His scolding tone faded away shortly after though, and he shook his head. "Why did you not tell me this?"

The young woman stared back at him like an owl that just had flood lights turned on it, then looked down at her lap, "I'm... from a white-magic clan. Pure white magic line really from the start of it. Using shadow magic is... like learning algebra before knowing how to add 2 and 2 together. I'm learning shadow magic all on my own."

He sighed as he considered this. "Is there nobody who can help you? Nobody at all?" Now he just sounded flat-out concerned.

"I'm not about to find a dark magic user," Cassidy shivered, if she did that she knew she would be dead in a day. "It's like most of all written on this type of magic is mostly... _gone_."

"So it is a universally disliked art, I presume." Jafar responded, thinking it over a bit. "And going by your reaction, those who wield it are generally far from savory individuals as it is."

"Not so most disliked," Cassidy tried to clarify, "It's just _not there._ "

"You misunderstood what I meant." He explained. "I meant it was not there because people disliked it. As in, a lot of what may have once been written down about it was destroyed as an act of dislike for the style of magic."

"Most 'normal' humans don't see magic, don't believe in it anymore. But before, they couldn't tell the differences between the magic energies, let alone casters apart." Cassidy said softly, "Like, paper witches only started to come around about 200-100 years ago."

"So dark magic is merely something that nobody took the time to write anything about then." Jafar concluded, thinking it over a bit and trying to sort it all out.

"Dark sort of covers both black and shadow magic I think," Cassidy thought a moment, "Like 'white' magic covers healing and elemental based magic."

"Ah. Well, that seems to make a little more sense." Jafar responded. "Anyway... just... do not hurt yourself too much with your summoning. I do not want you getting hurt because of me."

"That's why its like a few weeks between the summoning... though Kuriboh isn't hard." Cassidy realized, and flushed, "My puppies aren't either."

He nodded as he thought about it. "It is likely that I am more powerful than the other creatures you have been summoning. It would not surprise me if that was the case."

"Have you seen my puppies in the Shadow Realm," The witch asked after a moment, perking as she looked up at the Monster she was still being held by.

"Hm... I am not certain. I have not left home for quite a while now. I have been busy reading." He confessed. "I may find them someday though."

"Well...don't hurt them if you see them." The girl giggled, thinking of the massive white furred creature that was as big as a horse with a pale yellow ribbon and bow around his next. "I gave Ta-bo a bow he likes."

The Magician chuckled quietly. "I will make sure to remember that. No hitting wolves that have a bow on them. Do the others have any special things to help me tell them apart?"

"Um... a few things on the paw or fur paint... I think they might be in the same pack."

"Ah, very well then." He smiled as he considered the information. "That will make it a lot easier to know who is who." He paused, thinking a bit. "Just out of curiosity, have you met anyone or anything in your deck other than Kuriboh, myself, Hadir, and the wolves?"

"The two mini kuriboh that came from the hats." Cassidy thought aloud, and then she frowned, "I thought I saw something once, but Hadir pulled me back into the property's boarder and it vanished."

That caught Jafar's attention. Not that Hadir was out when he himself wasn't, but that Cassidy had seen something. "Oh? What did it look like? Can you recall?"

She shrugged, hesitated, "I didn't get a good look at it, and then Hadir didn't want to let go of me the rest of the night and took me home." She blushed.

Jafar chuckled quietly, though he still seemed concerned. "Well, I do not blame him for wanting to hold onto you. Though... hm... This figure you saw is making me a bit concerned. I suggest being a bit wary while you are out and about."

"I'm a paper witch, I'm always careful." Cassidy assured, then pointed out, "And there's that spell you put on that echo staff you left me."

Oops, she spotted that.

The Magician blinked, but smiled sheepishly. "Well, you should have something like that until Simon has finished the one he was going to make for you. I could not help myself, really... can never be too careful, yes?"

Shaking her head, the girl rested it against the Monster's chest, "No, it doesn't hurt to be too careful most of the time. The party's coming up soon," she added.

He nodded and smiled a little. "Even more reason to show more care." He responded, hugging her a little closer, though still being gentle so he wouldn't hurt her. "...are you excited about this party?"

Cassidy reached out to touch one of the massive hands holding her up, and then jumped. "Ow!" she yipped, rubbing her left arm as the dream world became hazzy as her waking world flickered into her unconscious mind.

Jafar blinked as this happened. "Are you alright?" He asked, his expression showing concern and confusion. "What happened?"

"I think I'm waking up." Cassidy fingered the cat scratches on her arm, and twitched, "Isis stop that," she said, eyes focusing as she spoke aloud to the cat beside her in the mortal world.

"Ah." The Magician replied, sighing almost reluctantly as he gently set her down. "I will take my leave then. Don't work yourself too hard, alright?"

"Be safe." Cassidy whispered before the dream world vanished.

Opening his eyes, Jafar would find himself staring up at a post it note paper crane... no. Two paper cranes. The first little yellow one, and a pink one.

Jafar opened his eyes slowly and then blinked several times, seeming rather surprised. "...well ...how did you get in here?" He asked awkwardly.

The pink one fluttered its wings and darted off, the yellow crane fluttered after it. Then a _third_ , slightly bigger crane joined the other two in the air above the Dark Magician's bed.

Now the Magician looked confused. "...what in Amun's name...?" He asked the air, seeming highly confused. "That is... unusual..."

Perhaps he should be worried as a full sized paper crane, big enough to fit in his palm instead of a fingertip, came up to cash around the three smaller bewitched paper creatures.

Now the Magician seemed a little concerned. "Where do you lot keep coming from?" He inquired, looking utterly bewildered now as he got up out of bed and - ignoring his present state of wearing not but a warm pair of leggings, looking the paper birds over with confusion.

 _Sreet!_ came from Jafar's right.

Jafar jumped slightly, blinking and turning to take a look and see what made the noise. "Sweet love of Isis, do not be another one..." He murmured under his breath.


End file.
